Book < n ^ 

Gopyiigfe]^'? 

CQPiiyGHT DEPOSED 



jiiiiiiiiniiinuiniMniMniiniiHinuiinnuMiiMiiiiiinniiinnniiiiiMinnuMiiiiiiitniiiinHuiniMiMiiMiiMninniiMiiHiinMMiHiiiMii^ 

I JBilont tottb Got) I 

jftttfnff f or &f tbice 



I By j 

I Matilda Erichson ' \ 



"This sacred shade and solitude, what is it? 
'Tis the felt presence of the Deity. 
Feiv are the faults we flatter when alone." 

"There is no better fitting for service than 
secret communion with the Divine." 



1917 

PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION 

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA 

Kansas City, Missouri Portland, Oregon Brookfield, Illinois 
Calgary, Alberta, Canada Cristobal, Canal Zone 



rjio our young 
^ people every- 
where, this little 
volume is lov- 
ingly dedicated. 



Copyrighted 1917 * 
Pacific Press Publishing Assn. 
Mountain View, Cal. 



FEB 27 ISI7 

)CI,A457217 



Introduction 



•jnr THOUSAND rivulets, in the sudden abundant 
>^--^ breaking of a summer shower, flow into a land 
depression and form oftentimes a beautiful little lake; 
but in a few days, the hot sun dries the little streams, 
the lake becomes a pond, and the pond is soon a stag- 
nant pool. 

There are many springs, in the vernal season, in the 
Appalachian ranges; but few remain till the noontide 
heat of the later summer. 

Yet we see the noble river flowing through the 
drought-stricken land during all the long, torrid days 
of the burning summer season. It finds its source in 
the eternal snows and never failing springs of the far- 
away mountains. 

Men die with spent water bottles, journeying over 
the hot sands of the desert; but the palm tree grows 
and flourishes. Its roots take hold of the unseen 
fountains. 

Sociability is good, but there may be too much of it. 
The instinct of gregariousness oftentimes leads us 
away from the solitude that is needed. Solitude is 
woven into every character truly strong. Not solitude 
with one's self alone. That may be in part profitable, 
but- solely it is a source of weakness. All that it may 
yield us is no better, stronger, higher than ourselves. 

Let the solitary moments be with God ; for "God to 
man doth talk in solitude." Converse with Him con- 
nects us with the great fountain of life and power, a 



Intr 0 duction 

source-supply inexhaustible, and makes the soul a 
spring of crystal sweetness, 'Vhose waters fail not." 

It is for the purpose of helping all Christians, but 
especially the young, where her heart burden has been 
for years, to make the infinite, loving God and Saviour 
their source-supply, that this little book is written by 
the author. May God bless its mission. 

Publishers. 



ALONE WITH GOD 



The Supreme Privilege - - 7 

The Life That Counts - - 15 

Equipment for Service - - 31 

Jesus and I Are Friends - 43 

Alone with God's Word - - 59 

Take Time to Pray - - - 71 

Essentials to Successful 

Prayer Life - - - - 85 

The Morning Hour - - - 111 

When Prayer Fails - - - 123 




God 




^lone with God!" The keynote this 
Of every holy life, 
The secret power of fragrant growth, 
And victory over strife. 

"Alone with God!" In private prayer 
And quietness, we feel 
That He draws near our waiting souls. 
And does Himself reveal. 

"Alone with God!" Earth's laurels fade; 
Ambition tempts not there; 
The world and self are judged just right. 
And no false colors wear. 



"Alone with God!" True knowledge gained, 
While sitting at His feet. 
We learn life's greatest lessons there, 
Which make for service meet. 

— Selected. 



The Supreme Privilege 



"Come now, and let us rea- 
son together." Isa. 1 : 18. 

"Sweet is the precious gift of prayer, 
To bow before the throne of grace; 

To leave our every burden there, 
And gain new strength to run the race ; 

To gird our heavenly armor on, 
Depending on the Lord alone.'' 



CHAPTER I 



UPPOSE you lived in Washington, 
D. C, and the president of the United 
States repeatedly sent you urgent invitations 
to come to talk over with him privately your 
personal problems. Would you refuse to go? 
Suppose he should tell you, over and over 
again, that he was deeply interested in you; 
that he understood your perplexities, and was 
willing to make any sacrifice to help you ; that 
he had already deposited in Riggs's National 
Bank, for you, money enough to obtain the 
preparation needed for your life work; and 
that if you would come, he would gladly lay 
aside all other business, and give you his un- 
divided attention. Would you spurn the offer? 

But have you not spurned a better offer? 
''Come now, and let us reason together," is 

(7) 




8 



Alone with God 



the invitation the Creator of the universe 
sends to you. Do you heed His call? When 
He who made the worlds, who keeps the plan- 
ets moving on schedule time in their appointed 
orbits, who gives life to each spire of grass, 
who feeds the sparrows, who supplies all 
man's necessities, and above all, who "com- 
mendeth His love toward us, in that, while 
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," — - 
when He calls you to have a personal inter- 
view with Him, do you go? 

Do you not often, by your actions, say, "O 
Lord, I am too busy; I haven't time to talk 
with You to-daj^"? Have you not often 
spurned His invitation to meet Him alone, 
and then, in your foolish hurry, rushed head- 
long on to certain defeat in the conflicts of the 
day? How few there are who consider it ab- 
solutely necessary to get their daily program 
from God! Yet, — 

"If chosen men could never be alone, 
In deep mid-silence open-doored to God, 
No greatness ever had been dreamed or done." 

We emphasize service. We repeat the 
great commission, ''Go ye into all the world." 
We recall how Jesus "lived to bless others," 
and that He said, ''I am among you as he that 
serveth." We realize that we must copy this 



The Supreme Privileg e 9 

aspect of His life, and obey His great com- 
mand to serve our fellow men wherever we 
are. So we press on, while whispering to our 
hungry hearts, ''There is no religion without 
service." 

And this is true, so it is right that we should 
make much of service. But we must not for- 
get that Jesus often sought the solitudes; 
often He went into the seclusion of the moun- 
tains to pray and meditate. Mark tells of His 
rising a great while before day, to retreat to 
a quiet place for prayer. "These hours of 
aloneness were a necessity to Jesus. They 
were the supreme hours of His life. They 
were the hours that made His work divine. 
Out of these hours of retirement He issued to 
do many things for which they had strength- 
ened and prepared Him." Our strength for 
service comes from the same source, and we 
must obtain it in the same way. Unless we 
have a quiet time when God can speak to us, 
and when He can pour new strength into our 
lives, our work will soon become powerless for 
good, however busily we may serve. 

The following incident, related by Mr. Mc- 
Conkey, helps one to appreciate the impor- 
tance of spending some time alone with God: 



10 



Alone icit h God 



"On the shores of Lake Huron, one day last 
summer, a little group of us were standing on 
the dock waiting for the arrival of the steamer. 
All about us was a babel of voices. Presently 
the young clerk said, 'Come into the fish 
house.' (It was a fishing village, and there 
was a little warehouse where the men packed 
their fish. ) We went in with him, and he shut 
the door, and said, 'Listen.' As we stood 
there, we could plainly hear the sound of the 
approaching boat, the peculiar intermittent 
beating of the paddles of a side-wheel steamer. 
Then we walked out of the door to the wharf, 
where the people were talking; and the sound 
of the approaching steamer vanished. Again 
with a friend we went into the room, and 
again we heard the sound clearly and plainly. 
We were in the place of stillness. There were 
no voices about to distract, or disturb, or break 
the silence, and there we could distinctly hear 
the approaching steamer. We went out and 
sat down upon the wharf; and in a few min- 
utes, the smoke from the funnels arose above 
the island. 'What a lesson!' we thought. 
When we get alone in the chamber of com- 
munion with God, we can hear the voice of 
God; God can reveal His mind to us as no- 
where else." 



The Supre7ne Privilege 11 

Daniel, when prime minister of Babylon, 
found it possible to meet God alone three 
times each day. All that the men asked of 
Daniel was that he stop praying for thirty 
days — just thirty days. Many Christians have 
stopped praying much longer than that, when 
the only lions in the way were carelessness and 
spiritual laziness. But with Daniel it was dif- 
ferent. He knew his God. He had met Him 
alone often. He regarded that appointment 
with God as the supreme privilege of life — 
nay, more, an absolute necessity. And he 
chose rather to be cast into the lions' den with 
God, than to live in the palace without Him. 

Being alone with God in prayer was the 
secret of Daniel's strength, of Daniel's wis- 
dom, of Daniel's protection. It always has 
been the secret of genuine power. Men of 
power in all ages have been men of prayer; 
they have been men who insisted on meeting 
God alone — men who knew that being alone 
with God was their supreme privilege and 
their only source of strength. Just think 
what we might learn in one month in heaven 
with God. But it is here we must study at 
His feet to get ready for heaven; and He does 
not limit our associations with Him. We 



12 



Alone tvith God 



must decide how much time we will spend 
with Him, and the relation that shall obtain in 
these associations. The relation that exists de- 
termines the results. It is only when we bring 
to the Master a fully surrendered will that He 
can imbue us with unlimited power for service. 

Never forget that being alone with God is 
your supreme privilege. You may meet Him 
alone in the chamber of secret prayer, in your 
daily work, in the crowded street. Cortland 
Myers says: ''We can come into His presence, 
we can realize His presence, we can listen and 
talk and love just as certainly as with an 
earthly father. This is so wonderful, but so 
real. It is the best of life." And lest we 
should omit this best part of life, our Saviour's 
command to each one of us is: ''Enter into thy 
closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray 
to thy Father which is in secret; and thy 
Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee 
openly." The poet passes the command on to 
us in these words: 

"Sometime, between the dawn and dark, 

Go thou, 0 friend, apart. 
That a cool drop of heaven's dew 

May fall into thy heart. 
Thus with a spirit soothed and cured 

Of restlessness and pain. 
Thou mayest, nerved with force divine, 

Take up thy work again." 



The Supreme Privileg e 13 



You may regret spending too much time 
with men, but you will never regret spending 
too much time with God. Then insist on hav- 
ing some time alone with Him each day. Meet 
Him in the chamber of secret prayer. Spread 
before Him your life. Do not try to hide any 
part of it from His all-seeing eye. Close the 
door of your heart to every disturbing influ- 
ence, and insist on being alone with your 
Maker until you have seen Him, and can go 
forth into life's conflict clothed in His rights 
eousness, and armed with His power. 

Still, still with Thee — when purple morning breaketh, 
When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee; 

Fairer than the morning, lovelier than the daylight, 
Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee. 

Alone with Thee — amid the mystic shadows, 
The solemn hush of nature newly born; 

Alone with Thee in breathless adoration. 
In the calm dew and freshness of the morn. 

When sinks the soul, subdued by toil, to slumber, 
Its closing eye looks up to Thee in prayer. 

Sweet the repose beneath Thy wings o'ershading, 
But sweeter still to wake and find Thee there! 

So shall it be at last, in that bright morning 
When the soul waketh, and life's shadows flee. 

Oh, in that hour, fairer than daylight dawning, 
Shall rise the glorious thought, I am with Thee! 

— Harriet Beecher Stowe, 



Fitted for Service 

/^H, turn me, mold me, mellow me for use, I 

Pervade my being with Thy vital force, 1 

That this else inexpressive life of mine 1 

May become eloquent and full of power, | 

Impregnated with life and strength divine. | 

Put the bright torch of heaven into my hand, f 

That I may carry it aloft, | 

And vdn the eye of weary wanderers here below, | 

To guide their feet into the paths of peace. f 

I cannot raise the dead, j 

I Nor from the soil pluck precious dust, j 

I Nor bid the sleeper wake, 1 

I Nor still the storm, nor bend the lightning back, | 

I Nor muffle up the thunder, | 

I Nor bid the chains fall from off creation's long | 

I enfettered limbs; f 

I But I can live a life that tells on other lives, | 

1 And makes the v/orld less full of anguish and of | 

1 pain — I 

I A life that, like the pebble dropped upon the sea, | 

1 Sends its wide circles to a hundred shores. | 

I May such a life he mine! \ 

\ Creator of true life. Thyself the life Thou givest, | 

i Give Thyself that Thou mayest dwell in me, and I 

1 I in Thee. | 

1 — Horatius Bonar, 




iiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiii iiniuiMiiiiiiiiiiiiMtiiiiiMMnnuniniiMniniMiMiiuiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiuiiiuiiiiiiiiiiMiiniiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiR 



(14) 



The Life That Counts 



"Be ye therefore perfect." Matt. 5: 48. 

''There is only one life that wins, and that is the 
life of Jesits Christ. Every man may have that life; 
every man may live that life.'' — Charles G. Trumbull, 



CHAPTER II 



R. EMERSON is a member of yom- 
chm'ch, is he not?" I looked in utter 
surprise at the friend who spoke. ''Why, yes/' 
I replied; "I thought you knew he was." ''I 
knew he had been; but I have seen him sev- 
eral times coming from down town Saturdays 
with a paper sack or a parcel in his hand, 
and," she continued, ''Mildred goes to moving 
picture shows right along." 

The young woman who spoke, although not 
an Adventist, was quite well acquainted with 
our church. She was not given to gossiping 
nor faultfinding; but such flagrant inconsist- 
encies made her wonder whether these com- 
paratively new friends in her circle were 
church members. 

The cloud that settled on my brow, and 
the few remarks that followed on the subject, 
could not reveal to her the acuteness of the 

(15) 




16 



Alone with God 



pain nor the bitterness of the disappointment 
which her information gave me. I was well 
acquainted with Mildred Emerson and her 
father, though in recent years our paths had 
seldom crossed. I had looked upon him as 
an ideal Sabbath school superintendent. She, 
too, was a church member, and blessed with 
splendid talents for the Master's service. 
They were lovely people, and I enjoyed their 
friendship; but why were they drifting? Why 
were they living lives that contradicted so 
loudly their profession? 

One day, a minister asked a business man if 
he were a Christian. ''No; I cannot say that 
I am. Still I do not know but I am as good 
as most church members. For instance, yes- 
terday I got on board the train to ride into 
Chicago. There came into the coach and sat 
beside me a woman whom I knew very well, 
and who is prominent in church work. She 
claims to be a Christian, and knows that I am 
not a Christian ; but in all that three-hour ride, 
she did not do another blessed thing but gossip 
and tell tales about her friends and neighbors, 
until, when the train stopped in the city, I 
was heartily glad to get away from her. Now 
why did that woman who professes to be a 



The Life That Counts 



17 



follower of Christ, spend all her time in gossip, 
and have nothing to say about her Master?" 

Yes, why do Christians say so little about 
their Master? And why do their lives so often 
deny Him? It is a sad fact that thousands of 
young Christians are content to live on a low 
plane, showing no desire to gTOW up into the 
full stature of Christ Jesus, and having no 
ambition to live the life that counts. They 
make no decided effort to overcome besetting 
sins. They do not lend a helping hand to 
those in need. In the home, they are not al- 
ways helpful, but are often unkind. Among 
their associates, they wield no positive influ- 
ence. They indulge in the same pleasures, the 
same reading, and the same vanities as before 
they became Christians. They do not have 
enough religion to make them happy in prayer 
meeting and Christian service, but a little too 
much for them to be comfortable when indulg- 
ing in pleasures generally discountenanced. 
''Oh, what's the harm?" they ask. But such a 
question is itself a danger signal. It always 
indicates low spirituality. 

It would be well if every young Christian 
would apply to all things the test John Wes- 
ley received from his mother, to guide him in 
his pleasures during his college life. This is 



2 — Alone 



18 



Alone with God 



what she wrote him: "Would you judge in the 
lawfulness or unlawfulness of pleasure, take 
this rule: Whatever weakens your reason, im- 
pairs the tenderness of your conscience, ob- 
scures your sense of God, or takes off the 
relish of spii'itual things; whatever increases 
the authority of your body over your mind, — 
that, to you, is sin/' 

There are some young Christians who appar- 
ently do nothing, — nothing you can positively 
condemn, nothing which merits commendation. 
They are like a savings bank in Maine that was 
closed by order of the state examiner. Caleb 
Cobweb says of it: "The institution was en- 
tirely sound. There was no lack of confidence 
in its officers. The bank had been paying divi- 
dends regularly. Why, then, was it closed? — 
Because it had not been growing. It had 
merely been standing still." 

The bank failed, and so will every Christian 
who is content to live on a low plane. It is 
very dangerous to be satisfied to stand still, to 
be content merely to do nothing wrong. 

There is said to have been in Sicily, some 
years ago, a stream that came out of the sul- 
phur beds, and that would turn to sulphur any 
creature over which it flowed. A small living 
fish put into a rock basin into which the stream 



The Life That Counts 19 

fell, soon lost its power of motion, then its life; 
and later its very body turned to sulphur. Sin 
is like that stream. To stand still in one's 
Christian experience means to become petri- 
fied in sin. 

And what is more, not only do such Chris- 
tians lose out themselves, but others stimible 
over their failures; for, as has been said, every 
Christian is somebody's Bible. They are stones 
in the highway of life, over which untrained 
feet stumble. Their lives are constantly cry- 
ing out, ''The gospel is the power of God unto 
salvation, but it has not done much for me." 

Dr. L. W. Munhall, when a young man, had 
an experience that should be a warning to all. 
It occurred before he entered the ministry. 
With a visiting friend, he went, one evening, 
to the theater. The next day, he met another 
friend about whom he was anxious, and once 
again he asked him to become a Christian. "I 
never want you to speak to me on that subject 
again," said the young man. "I saw you last 
night in the theater; and I have little confi- 
dence in a man who professes to be a Chris- 
tian, but is found in a questionable place of 
amusement." "I never won him," said Mr. 
Munhall. "He drifted away from the church 



20 



Alone with God 



and from Christ; and I met him later in the 
West, a hopeless wreck." 

Then why are so many Christians content 
to live on a low plane? — It is because they 
are unwilling to pay the price of the life that 
counts, unwilling to study the Guidebook and 
follow it closely. I am reminded of a New 
York firm of which I read some time ago. 
A business man in South America had ordered 
a lot of goods from this firm. He gave ex- 
plicit directions as to how they must be packed. 
But the employees of that New York firm 
knew how to pack. They did not require any 
instructions from South America. So the 
goods were sent packed in the New York 
style. Some weeks later, the firm received a 
letter advising that because they had failed to 
pack as directed, all the shipment had been de- 
stroyed, and they must bear the loss. It seems 
the goods had to be sent many miles over 
almost impassable mountains, on the backs 
of mules. These mules sometimes lost their 
footing and rolled down the mountain. The 
goods had to be packed for this contingency. 
This the New York firm had neglected to do. 

Like the New York firm, many young 
Christians think their own judgment sufii- 
cient. However, there is absolute necessity 



The Life That Counts 



21 



that they follow the directions of the Guide- 
book; for it explains what the life that counts 
is, and how one may live it. And often the 
Christian must read the Book upon his knees. 
But there is not much Bible study, neither is 
there much earnest prayer, in the life of the 
low-plane Christian. Real prayer and real 
failure in Christian living cannot dwell to- 
gether. The terms are antagonistic. ''The 
great men of prayer," says Cortland Myers, 
"have always been known by their pure and 
loving hearts." Robert F. Horton says: 
"When a soul is much with God, sin becomes 
exceedingly sinful, and a great desire is kin- 
dled to overcome it. Temptations lose their 
power. The mask is torn off the face of the 
tempter, who no longer appears as an angel 
of light. The secret springs of strength give 
victory in the struggle with passion and ap- 
petite." 

The only life that counts is the supremely 
unselfish life of Jesus Christ. The Bible ex- 
plains how one may live it, and nature is 
everywhere trying to teach man that living 
the life that counts means casting one's self 
into the furrow of the world's great need. 
"No bird that cleaves the air, no animal that 
moves upon the ground, but ministers to some 



22 



Alone with God 



other life. There is no leaf of the forest, or 
lowly blade of grass, but has its ministry. 
. . . The flowers breathe fragi-ance and un- 
fold their beauty in blessing to the world. 
The sun sheds its light to gladden a thousand 
worlds. The ocean, itself the source of all our 
springs and fountains, receives the streams 
from every land, but takes to give. The mists 
ascending from its bosom fall in showers to 
water the earth, that it may bring forth and 
bud." — ''Desire of Ages/' pages 20, 21. 

Yes, nature is a good teacher in the life that 
counts; and some day, when you are tilled of 
books, and work, and things in general, go 
and sit down on the grassy bank of a river, 
and let it tell you the story of life. There is 
something so human and companionable about 
a river! As Henry van Dyke says: "It has a 
life, a character, a voice of its own. ... It 
can talk in various tones, loud and low, and 
on many subjects, grave and gay. . . . For 
real company and friendship, there is nothing 
outside of the animal kingdom, that is com- 
parable to a river." 

Over the hills and far away is a never fail- 
ing spring. From it, a small stream runs 
laughing down the valley — a stream so small 
that you can step across it. As it goes on and 



The Life That Counts 



23 



on down the valley, slipping past a hundred 
hills, darting through fertile fields, skirting 
thriving cities, it grows until it becomes the 
irresistible river flowing at your feet. All 
along the way, the river takes into its bosom 
water from smaller streams, but it takes to 
give. All along the way, it is giving itself. 
It waters the grass and the flowers on its 
banks; the trees slip down their roots and 
drink its moisture ; the birds bathe in its pools ; 
the cattle quench their thirst in its cooling 
current; the fishes depend on it for food; then 
as it grows still larger and stronger, it carries 
the huge vessels of commerce upon its bosom ; 
and finally, without seeking reward, its waters 
slip quietly on, and lose themselves in the 
eternal deep. This is the story the river tells. 
It is the story of the unselfish and efficient 
life^ — the life that counts. 

Does it pay the river to scatter blessings 
all along its course? Does it pay the rose to 
fling its sweetness to the world? Does it pay 
the wheat to grow and feed the hungry mil- 
lions? Then, too, it pays the Christian to live 
the life that counts. And every young man 
and woman may live it; but that life is not to 
be found on the bargain counter. To live it 
means to get rid of sin; and ''sin is the great- 



24 



Alone with God 



est power in the universe ewcept God." But 
as surely as the telescope can find a star in 
the heavens, so surely can a soul find its God. 
Do you remember the story of the ship's crew 
that were half famished for water? Again 
and again they signaled to a ship near, "Oh, 
give us water!" Each time, the ship signaled 
back, "Dip down where you are." This 
seemed cmel mockery; but finally, in sheer 
despair, they dipped down, and to their as- 
tonisliment, found that the water was fresh. 
They were in the mouth of the Amazon River, 
and knew it not. 

So you may "dip down" where you are, for 
strength to live the life that counts. Keeping 
in touch with God is the secret of this life, and 
"prayer is the unseen wire stretched from the 
very heart of God to the heart of man. It is 
just as real and certain as electricity and 
gravitation; it is no more mysterious; it is no 
less practical. It is just as reasonable to ex- 
pect to accomplish something by this means as 
by any other law or invention." Yes, prayer 
is the great reality in life. "I prayed God to 
make me an extraordinary Christian," wrote 
the great and good Whitefield, in his diary; 
and his life was an evidence that his prayer 
was heard and answered. Edwards says of 



The Life That Counts 25 

him, ''In spirit, in prayer fulness, in ceaseless 
labor, in love to Christ, and in earnest and 
tireless efforts to win men from their sins to 
Him, he was, as he had prayed to be, 'an ex- 
traordinary Christian.' " 

To be an extraordinary Christian, to live 
the life that counts, means supreme happiness. 
Dr. W. T. Grenfell says of the beginning of 
his career in the life that counts: "In my own 
life, when, at the feet of D. L. Moody, I first 
accepted Christ as my Master, my Sundays, 
my only free days, formerly devoted to the 
usual young men's amusements and occupa- 
tions, I devoted to holding open-air services 
and to visiting underground lodging houses in 
Ratcliffe Highwaj^ The change was so sud- 
den that I was able to appreciate the contrast 
in my sensations; for it was a tremendous ef- 
fort to me to be preaching at all, and that 
more especially in the open air and in the 
neighborhoods frequented by my fellow stu- 
dents. I had enjoyed the sensations of ath- 
letic victories, and I had carried off more than 
one material trophy; but there has never been 
any question in my mind as to which was the 
truest joy, that afforded by self-serving, or 
that by Christ-serving, either as first I saw it 



26 



Alone with God 



then, or as, after twenty-five years, with some- 
what altered perspective, I see it now." 

Secret prayer is the breath of the life that 
counts; for "God fades out of the life of those 
who do not pray." And with secret prayer 
goes personal Bible study. These two abso- 
lutely necessary things may be reinforced in 
various ways. Be ambitious to succeed in 
whatever you undertake. ''Let not dead yes- 
terdav unborn to-morrow shame," but work in 
the spirit of the artist who, when asked which 
of his pictures he considered the best, replied, 
''My next one." Let not yesterday's mistakes 
crush you. Talk them over with God, and 
then remember that to-day is a new beginning. 
Make the most of it. Work helps to preserve 
purity, and is one secret of mcreased strength. 
Have faith in your work. Believe that it 
merits your best efforts, and then throw your- 
self into it. 

Men and women of wide experience tell us 
that carefulness in diet, regularity in bathing, 
and faithfulness in exercise, are good helpers 
in the struggle for pure lives. Good reading 
is another. Charles Dickens said that his love 
for good books was one of his strongest de- 
fenses against temptation. Many young 
people have been kept from wrong through 



The Lif e That C o tints 



27 



their devotion to hobbies. Ion Keith Falconer 
had a good hobby. Every week, he devoted 
one evening to gospel work among the poor 
in London. Charles Kingsley, when asked 
the secret of his beautiful life, replied, ''I had 
a friend." Then gather around you good, 
faithful friends, by being such a friend to 
others; and above all, make God your friend, 
for "He passeth all the rest." But always 
remember that "except the Lord keep the city, 
the watchman waketh but in vain." Good 
resolutions cannot withstand the daily tempta- 
tions. Unreserved consecration to God is the 
only sure safeguard. Then surrender all to 
Him, and trust Him; for He is "able to 
keep you from falling." As another says, 
"Trust God, respect yourself, be strong in the 
strength of Christ, and you may yet tread 
upon the young lion and the adder." 

The world is languishing for want of young- 
men and women who will live the life that 
counts. Will you? God wishes to write in 
your heart His law of love and purity. He 
wants your life to be in this sinful world what 
the pure lily is in the stagnant pool. More 
than that. He wants you to help others to re- 
gain their lost heritage ; He wants you to help 
other young Christians to live the life that 



28 



Alone with God 



counts. Does not your heart ache when you 
see young women selling a useful, noble ca- 
reer for some fleeting pleasure? Are you not 
pained to see young men with bright prospects 
go galloping on to ruin? Then step into the 
breach! Be a Daniel! Be an Esther! When 
millions are perishing, w^e have no time to 
think of ease or selfish gratification. For your 
OYv^n sake, for the sake of others, and for 
Christ's sake, live the life that counts. Fol- 
low Paul's advice to Timothy, ''Keep thyself 
pure," for purity is pov/er. Do right, and re- 
member that God not only forgives the past, 
bui provides strength for the present, and 
hope for the future. 

Do not say: ''I have made too many mis- 
takes. It's no use." One day, Michelangelo 
was looking over some ruins. Among them 
was a piece of marble that had been thrown 
away as useless. But the artist's eye saw 
something of great value in that piece of dis- 
carded marble; and he carved from it an 
exquisitely beautiful statue. So the great 
Architect of souls sees wonderful possibilities 
in your life; and He wants to make of it a 
life that will be a blessing to the world — a 
better life than you even have dared to dream 



The Life That Counts 29 

of, for "higher than the highest human thought 
can ever reach is God's ideal for His children." 

The saddest sight on earth is not that of a 
young Christian laid away to rest beneath the 
turf just at the moment when others enter 
their life work; the greatest of all tragedies is 
the tragedy of the young person who fails to 
live the life that counts. 

Could we for but one brief moment shut 
ourselves away from the busy, bustling world, 
and get a true picture of life and all that con- 
cerns us, we would be persuaded that, cost 
what it may, the life that counts is worth 
while; for to live it, means to be true to God, 
and true to our fellow men; it means an ir- 
resistible power for doing good, and an unfail- 
ing happiness, which the world can neither 
give nor take away. You may live this life; 
will you? 

"Oh, do not pray for easy lives; pray to be 
stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to 
your powers; pray for powers equal to your 
tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be 
no miracle, but you shall be a miracle. Every 
day, you shall wonder at yourself, at the rich- 
ness of life which has come to you by the grace 
of God." — Phillips Brooks. 




STIR ME ! 




Stir me, oh, stir me. Lord! I care not how; 

But stir my heart in passion for the world. 
Stir me to give, to go — but most to pray. 

Stir till Thy blood-red banner be unfurled 
O'er lands that still in heathen darkness lie — 
O'er deserts where no cross is lifted high. 

Stir me, oh, stir me, Lord, till all my heart 
Is filled with strong compassion for these souls; 

Till Thy compelling "must" drive me to prayer; 
Till Thy constraining love reach to the poles. 

Far north and south, in burning, deep desire; 

Till east and west are caught in love's great fire! 

Stir me, oh, stir me. Lord, till prayer is pain. 
Till prayer is joy — till prayer turns into praise ! 

Stir me till heart and mind and will — yea, all — 
Is wholly Thine, to use through all the days. 

Stir till I learn to pray "exceedingly." 

Stir till I learn to wait expectantly. 

Stir me, oh, stir me. Lord ! Thy heart was stirred 

By love's intensest fire, till Thou didst give 
Thine only Son, Thy best beloved One, 

E'en to the dreadful cross, that I might live; • v 



Stir me to give myself so back to Thee, 
That Thou canst give Thyself again through me. 

Stir me, oh, stir me. Lord! For I can see 
Thy glorious triumph day begin to break. 

The dawn already gilds the eastern sky. 
Oh, church of Christ, arise! Awake! Awake! 

Oh, stir us. Lord, as heralds of that day! 

The night is past — our King is on His way ! 



— Bessie Porter Head. 



(30) 



Equipment for Service 



"The effectual fervent prayer of a right- 
eous man availeth much.'* James 5: 16. 

"God*s greatest agency for winning men back to 
Himself is the prayers of other men'' — C. Myers, in 
''Real Prayer r 



CHAPTER III 



GREAT minister in London had a 
church that was very rich. The so- 
cial standing was high, and the best society 
was in it. He was an orator, a literary genius, 
a poet ; he wrote books. But regardless of all 
his rare ability, the pews of that church be- 
came less and less occupied. At last, he went 
on his knees before God, and asked the reason. 
He wanted a change in his life; he felt he 
must have power; he pleaded with God to 
show him what was the great necessity; and 
he tells us that there, while on his knees, alone 
with God, he heard a voice as distinct as any 
human voice say, "Live the life, live the life." 
The minister decided to live the life that 
counts, and the result was that the religious 
conditions in that part of London were trans- 
formed. 




(81) 



32 



Alone with God 



Once when Evangelist Wilbur Chapman 
was in England, he asked the late General 
Booth what he considered the secret of his re- 
markable success in Christian service. The 
great soul winner was silent for a moment. A 
tear trickled down his cheek as he said: ''If 
there is any secret in my success as a soul 
winner, it is this: Since I first caught a 
glimpse of the poor in London, God has had 
all there is of me." 

At the Student Volunteer Convention held 
in Rochester, New York, in 1910, Sherwood 
Eddy said: "I remember fifteen years ago, 
before going to India, sitting down one night 
with mv roommate, who is now in China, and 
saying to him: 'What are we going to tell 
them out on the field? What message have 
we for men? Ai'e we merely going out to tell 
them about Cln^ist ? If so, it w^ould be cheaper 
to send out Bibles and tracts. Can we tell 
them we know that Jesus Chi^ist saves and 
satisfies, and that He keeps us more than con- 
querors day by day? I am not satisfied. I 
do not feel that I have a message such as I 
need for men out there, nor the experience, 
nor the power. If we have not, is not that 
the one thing we need before we leave this 
country — to know Him?' " 



E quipment for Service 33 

So these Christian workers, like all others 
who have been successful soul winners, testify 
that he who would be pre-eminently success- 
ful must live the life that counts. Wilbur 
Chapman puts it this way: ''God will never 
use you as a great soul winner until He has 
all there is of you — never." 

It is when the channel of life is open, 
cleared of sin, that God can stretch His 
mighty arm through it to save others. Think 
how the Panama Canal has transformed the 
commerce of the world. The oceans have not 
changed. Through the centuries, they have 
been waiting to fill that canal; but only when 
all obstacles were removed, could they press 
in to fill it, and make it a waterway of the na- 
tions, a blessing to the world. 

Just as Bishop Hannington said, ''I have 
purchased the way to Uganda with my life," 
so living the life is the price of success in 
Christian service. A man said one day, "I 
wish I could be a Henry Martyn." His 
friend shouted back, ''Then live Henry Mar- 
tyn's life." If you would be a successful soul 
winner, live the life of a successful soul win- 
ner. That is all. 

And to be a soul winner is life's greatest 
opportunity. Mrs. Taylor, after years of 



3 — Alone 



34 



Alone with God 



hard work in China, said, ''Life holds no privi- 
lege more precious than that of giving itself 
for the salvation of the lost." Often I think 
of the words of Ellen Stone. At the Student 
Volunteer Convention held in Nashville in 
1906, she told us about her release from the 
bandits who had taken her captive. The story 
of her experience had made me shudder; so I 
was much astonished to hear her say, almost 
in tears, ''Oh, I want to go back to Albania!" 
About four years later, I saw her again. Ck- 
cmnstances were still holding her in tliis coun- 
try, but there was traced on her beaming face 
the same longing to return to the land of her 
captivity. 

When Florence N^ightmgale heard the call 
to definite service, she chose to forsake the so- 
called luxuries of life, and give her time to 
the sufferers of the Crimean War. A young 
man heard the same call ; and when asked why 
he was going to Japan as a missionary, he re- 
plied, "Because I feel it is the best investment 
I can make of my life." And truly it is. 

Angels would gladly do the work that 
young men and women of the twentieth cen- 
tury have before them; but God has commis- 
sioned Christians to be colaborers with Him 
in the gi-eat work of sa^dng a lost world. 



E quipment for Service 35 

Angels stand ready to help each worker. 
They are "ministering spirits, sent forth to 
minister for them who shall be heirs of sal- 
vation." 

For several thousand years, the work of 
saving a lost world has been heaven's most im- 
portant business. So much in earnest is God 
that He gave His only Son to come to this 
world, to live and die for its accomplishment ; 
and all through the centuries. He has kept 
large armies of angels to help men and women 
in this all-important work. Surely the chief 
business of Christians, as Christ's representa- 
tives, is to save souls. Amos R. Wells has 
said, "The Christian that is not making other 
Christians is as much a contradiction in terms 
as a fire that is not heating, or a flame that 
gives no light." Charles G. Finney once said: 
"The great object for which Christians are 
converted and live in this world is to pull 
sinners out of the fire. If they do not effect 
this, they had better be dead." 

But what is the relation of prayer to Chris- 
tian service? Look back over the history of 
Christian service, and you will find that the 
men and women who have lifted the world 
spiritually, have saturated their lives with 
prayer. It is recorded of Luther, whose name 



36 



Alone with God 



stands for the great Reformation of the six- 
teenth century, that when especially busy, he 
would say that he must spend more time than 
usual in prayer, in order to accomplish most. 

The biographer of David Brainerd writes 
of him: ''He was, as all Christ's true men and 
women must be, mighty in prayer. It was his 
habit to spend long nights in the dark forests, 
with strong cryings to God, a very wrestling 
with the Almighty for the salvation of sinners. 
His whole life seems to have been divided be- 
tween preaching and prayer, hastening to the 
woods, after some discouragement, to meet 
his Lord for renewal of faith and confidence, 
or, with a whole heart of thanksgiving, casting 
himself on the ground, and crying, 'Not unto 
us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name 
give glory.' " 

Columba, Livingstone, and Whitefield died 
upon their knees. D. L. Moody says, "Bax- 
ter stained the study walls with praying 
breath, and after he was anointed with the 
unction of the Holy Ghost, sent a river of liv- 
ing water over Kidderminster, and converted 
hundreds." John Knox prayed, "O God, 
give me Scotland or I die;" and such a power 
was he in his work, that the Catholic Mary on 
her throne would say, "I fear John Knox 



E quipment for Service 37 

more than an army of twenty thousand men." 
R. F. Horton, in his book ''Victory in Christ," 
says: ''I think all the victors who have over- 
come, whose bright names star the heavens and 
will shine forever and ever, made and kept 
their hours of prayer. If these souls had not 
insisted on being alone in the deep mid-silence 
between themselves and God, their great deeds 
might never have been attempted, but it is 
sure they could never have been done." The 
greatest of all missionaries, who at thirty-three 
years of age could say, "I have finished the 
work Thou gavest Me to do," prayed, prayed 
much, prayed as never man prayed. 

These are a few of the great host of Chris- 
tian workers who join with Neesima, the 
Christian educator of Japan, in saying that 
"we must advance upon our knees" if we 
would succeed. ''Our victory, therefore, over 
self and sin, or other souls, or over difficulties 
and impossibilities," says another, "depends 
on the free and unhindered union with God by 
which we become willing instruments in His 
hands. And that union is the result of con- 
tinuous prayer." 

To the praying Christian, the chief business 
of life is to save souls; and it should be. God 
has not made the salvation of this lost world 



38 



Alone with God 



a secondary business; neither should we. As 
Forrest Hallenbeck says. ''There is only one 
passion for the blood-bought heart; that is the 
all-controlling pui'pose which brought the Son 
of God from the skies, and drove Him to the 
cross — the passion for the salvation of men." 
This was the passion of Vassar's heart. A but- 
terfly of fashion to whom he spoke in a hotel 
realized it. When her husband came home, 
and she told him of the strange man who 
had asked her whether she were a Christian, 
he said, ''Why did you not tell him it w^as none 
of his business?" but she replied, "O husband, 
if you had seen the expression on his face, 
and heard the earnestness with which he spoke, 
you would have thought it was his business." 

Have you ever stopped to think that if 
business men did their work in the slipshod, 
half-hearted manner in which some Christians 
go into soul winning, they would be bankrupt 
inside of three years? Genuine prayer is the 
secret of genuine service; but there can be no 
earnest prayer for the cause in which one is 
only half-heartedly interested. "Suppose 
some one were to offer me a thousand dollars 
for every soul that I might earnestly try to 
lead to Christ. Would I endeavor any more 
to lead souls to Him than I do now? Is 



E qui pment for Service 39 

it possible that I would attempt to do for 
money J even at the risk of blunders or ridicule, 
what I shrink from doing now in obedience to 
God's command? Is my love of money 
stronger than my love of God or of souls? 
How feeble, then, my love of God! Perhaps 
this explains why I am not a soul winner," 

A young man on the shores of Lake Michi- 
gan heard the distress signal of a sinking boat. 
Throwing his coat on the sand, he plunged 
into the snowy billows. Again and again he 
swam back to the wreck, until he had rescued 
seventeen persons. Then he dropped, ex- 
hausted, on the beach. It was too much. He 
was seized with a violent fever, and for three 
weeks he was delirious. Often he would 
moan: ''Oh, did I do my best? Did I do my 
best?" That boy loved his fellow men, and 
was willing to "spend and be spent" for them. 
If all Christian workers manifested the same 
intensity of loving interest in their efforts to 
save souls, what wonders would be wrought! 

I think it was John Wesley who said, "Give 
me ten men who hate nothing but sin, who fear 
nothing but God, and who seek nothing but 
the salvation of their fellow men, and I will 
set the world on fire." But how can we learn 
to love souls as God does? — This intense love 



40 



Alone w ith God 



for souls, this zeal in Christian service, will be 
yours and mine as soon as God has all there is 
of us; for somehow the same prayer that 
draws us close to God draws us close to our 
fellow men, 

God wants you to help Him save your rela- 
tives and friends, and all whom He sends to 
you. He wants you to keep in close touch 
with Him tlii'ough prayer, that He may keep 
you supplied with all the power you need for 
service. He is covmting on you, counting on 
me — counting on our seizing every opportu- 
nity around us. Let us remember that some 
opportunities come but once, then they are 
gone forever. They are like the ship that 
came to the Golden Gate one night and sig- 
naled for the harbor pilot to come and take 
it in. The night was very stormy, and he 
did not go. The captain dared not let his ship 
remain in the shallow water near treacherous 
rocks; and finally, in despair, he turned out 
to sea again. Nothing was ever heard of that 
ship afterward. The opportunity to save it 
was gone forever. And since some of our op- 
portunities come but once, we need to pray 
with the young girl who said: ''O Lord, fill 
me to overflowing! I cannot hold much, but 
I can overflow a great deal." So can we; and 



E quipment for Service 41 

when we are constantlj^ overflowing with the 
love of God for others, we shall not miss the 
opportunities He sends us. 

During a large Sunday school convention 
held in Chicago, a woman came to one of the 
Christian workers, and told him about her lost 
boy in San Francisco. The worker was going 
to that city; and she asked him to look up her 
boy, and try to save him. As she turned to 
go, she handed the worker a slip of paper. 
He unfolded it, and read: ''Won't you go 
once? Won't you go twice? Won't you go 
a hundred times? Won't you go till you get 
him?'' So, dear young friend, as God calls 
you to try to save those about you, won't you 
go once? Won't you go twice? Won't you 
go a hundred times? Won't you go till you 
get them? Go first into the chamber of secret 
prayer, to connect with the great dynamo of 
heaven; and then go forth, in the power of 
God, to win others to Him. 

The sunset burns across the sky; 
Upon the air its warning cry. 
The curfew tolls from tower to tower. 
0 children, 'tis the last, last hour! 

We hear His footsteps on the way! 
Oh, work while it is called to-day. 
Constrained by love, endued with power, 
0 children, in this last, last hour! 

— Clara Thwaites, 



Fve Found a 
Friend 



I Ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend ! 

He loved me ere I knew Him; 
He drew me with the cords of love. 

And thus He bound me to Him. 
And round my heart still closely twine 

Those ties, which naught can sever ; 
For I am His, and He is mine, 

Forever and forever. 

I Ve found a Friend, oh, such a Friend ! 

He bled. He died, to save me; 
And not alone the gift of life, 

But His own self, He gave me. 
Naught that I have, my own I call; 

I hold it for the Giver; 
My heart, my strength, my life, my all. 

Are His, and His forever. 

IVe found a Friend, oh, such a Friend! 

All power to Him is given. 
To guard me on my upward course. 

And lead me safe to heaven. 
The eternal glories gleam afar. 

To nerve my faint endeavor; 
So now to watch, to work, to war. 

And thus to rest forever. 

IVe found a Friend, oh, such a Friend, 

So kind, and true, and tender, 
So wise a Counselor and Guide, 

So mighty a Defender ! 
From Him who loveth me so well. 

What power my soul can sever? 
Shall life or death, or earth or hell? 

No; I am His forever. 

— Selected, 



Jesus and I Are Friends 



"Ye are My friends, if ye do whatso- 
ever I command you." John 15: 14. 

'^Personal contact with Christ, to sit down in com- 
panionship with Him, — this is our need/' — *'Educa- 
tion,'' page 261. 



CHAPTER IV 



HE late J. R. Miller had been lecturing 
in Paris. After one of the evening serv- 
ices, a man came to him, and said: ''Dr. Mil- 
ler, I have forgotten almost everything you 
said except this one sentence: 'To me, reli- 
gion means just one thing: Jesus and I are 
friends.' " J. R. Miller's life, pressed full of 
untiring service, was a beautiful demonstra- 
tion of the transforming influence of Jesus 
upon the lives of those who love Him, of those 
who can say, "Jesus and I are friends." 

Luther Burbank has made wonderful 
changes in fruits and flowers. He has taken 
away their objectionable features, and devel- 
oped their points of beauty and usefulness. 
But far more wonderful is the transformation 
wrought by Jesus in the lives of His friends. 
Most 5^oung people have some thorns in their 

(43) 




44 Alon e te ith God 

characters; but Jesus promises that His 
friendship, if accepted, shall free them from 
every undesirable trait. Phillips Brooks says : 
''If you will let Him walk with you in your 
streets, sit with you in your offices, and be with 
you in your homes, and teach you in your 
churches, and abide with you as the living 
presence in your hearts, you too shall know 
what freedom is; and while you do your du- 
ties, be above vour duties ; and while vou own 
vourselves the sons of men, know vou are the 
sons of God." 

The sentence, ''Jesus and I are friends," 
contains the secret of the Christian life; and 
every Christian has the privilege of finding in 
Jesus a real personal friend, John R. Mott 
says: "Xow I maintain that it is possible and 
practicable for each Christian to have Christ 
become and remain a great reality in his life; 
to be conscious of His presence ; to experience 
beyond doubt His actual help in breaking the 
power of temptation, in lifting the burden of 
sin, in shedding light in times of doubt on 
questions which perplex us, in affording a 
sense of companionship in times of sorrow or 
severe trial; to have Him become a vastly 
more potent factor in transforming character 
and energizing life than any other person or 



I 
I 



Jesus and I Are Friends 45 

persons, living or dead. Christ then becomes 
not merely One who lived and taught and 
wrought nearly two thousand years ago; not 
simply an inspiring memory of beneficent or 
historical character, for example, like Martin 
Luther, or William the Silent; not some 
vague, impersonal influence; but — 

" 'A living, bright reality, 

More dear, more intimately nigh, 
Than e'en the sweetest earthly tie.' " 

Charles G. Trumbull says of an interview 
with Dr. John D. Adams: "I learned from 
him that w^hat he counted his greatest spirit- 
ual asset was his unvarying consciousness of 
the actual presence of Jesus. Nothing bore 
him up so, he said, as the realization that Jesus 
was always with him in actual presence; and 
that this was so, independently of his own no- 
tions as to how Jesus would manifest His 
presence. Moreover, he said that Christ was 
the home of his thoughts. Whenever his mind 
was free from other matters, it would turn to 
Christ, and he would talk aloud to Christ 
when he was alone — on the street, anywhere — 
as easily as to a human friend, so real to him 
was Jesus' actual presence." 

The world owes much to the friends of 
Jesus. In all ages, they have lifted up the 



46 



Alone with God 



Redeemer of the world, that He might draw 
all to Himself. Their lives have demonstrated 
His power to save from sin; their faithful 
service has helped to interpret to the world the 
love of the sinners' Friend. The world's 
greatest need to-daj^ is the need of Christians 
who can say truly, ''Jesus and I are friends." 
Jesus is the highest interpretation of unselfish- 
ness; and the more we associate with Him, 
the more we shall be like Him. Our friend- 
ship will result in a life of unselfish service, 
for ''He lived to bless others." As Raphael 
admired and studied and believed in Michel- 
angelo, and thus partook of his genius, so we 
may cling to Christ and love and serve Him, 
and thus become like Him. In time, we shall 
be able to say, with Paul, "Nevertheless I 
live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me;" and 
that will be living the life that counts. 

But he who would enjoy friendship must 
meet the conditions of friendship. There is 
no genuine friendship without some sacrifice; 
for, as Woodrow Wilson, w^ien president of 
Princeton, said, "The object of love is to 
serve, not to win." Yet, cost what it may, 
"friendship," as Edward Everett Hale once 
said, "is the greatest luxury in life." The 
friendship of Jesus is more than a luxury; it 



Jesus and I Are Friends 47 

is the secret of eternal life; it is the pearl of 
great price; and to buy it, costs all. Jesus 
says, "If any man will come after Me, let him 
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow 
Me;" and again, "Ye are My friends, if ye 
do whatsoever I command you." In another 
place. He says, "Blessed are the pure in heart: 
for they shall see God." 

Victory over sin, through consecration, is 
needed in order to be close friends with Jesus. 
Abraham was known as "the friend of God," 
and he was willing to lay life's dearest treas- 
ure upon the altar at his Friend's command. 
The psalmist asks, "Who shall ascend into the 
hill of the Lord?" and then answers, "He that 
hath clean hands, and a pure heart." When 
George Miiller decided to enter the circle of 
Jesus' friends, he was compelled to give up 
some dissipated young chums who refused to 
join him. He paid the price, as have thou- 
sands of others, and became a great blessing 
to those about him; for truly, only he who has 
Jesus for his personal friend can be a genuine 
friend to others. 

One time, St. Augustine caught himself 
praying, "O Lord, give me purity, but not 
yet." And so, some Christians are saying, 
"Lord, give me imselfishness, but let me have 



48 



A lone zv ith God 



my own way in this thing;" oi% "Lord, give 
me hmiiility, but do not requh'e me to come 
down from the position I have already taken 
before others;" or, ''Lord, give me pmdty, but 
let a certain picture still hang in the chambers 
of my imagery." ''If we have a thousand 
things, and give up nine hundred and ninety- 
nine to Clirist, but still hold on to one, Christ 
will not be real to us. He is the Lord of allj 
* or not Lord at all. He requires everything 
of us ; and not until we make a complete sur- 
render does He fully disclose Himself to us. 
The more we identify ourselves with His aims, 
desires, and ideals, the nearer and more real 
He will seem to us." 

Does the friendship of Jesus mean slav- 
ery? — No, a hundred times, no. But Jesus 
has paid our way to heaven; He is the only 
one who has charted the course there; and our 
only safety lies in following om' Friend and 
Guide, in every detail. All realize this in a 
way ; and in the hours of deepest distress, even 
the enemies of Jesus turn to Him for comfort 
and help. While a certain infidel writer was 
finishing one of his books on atheism, he was 
called to the bedside of his little daughter, who 
was dying. "Papa," she said, "I am going to 
die. ]Mamma says Jesus will save me. You 



Jesus and I Are Friends 49 

say there is no God. Now what shall I do?'' 
Tears filled the father's eyes, his shoulders 
shook, and in broken words he said, ''Darling, 
you better accept your mother's Christ, and 
be saved." 

The friendship of Jesus is worth everything 
to the young Christian, not alone when he is 
brought face to face with death, but to-day, 
and every day. First of all. He sympathizes 
with us in all our sorrows, disappointments, 
troubles, and temptations; for "He was in all 
points tempted like as we are," that He might 
"succor them that are tempted." 

"He knows the bitter, weary way, 
The endless striving day by day, 
The souls that weep, the souls that pray — 
He knows. 

"He knows how hard the way has been, 
The clouds that come our lives between. 
The wounds the world has never seen — 
He knows/* 

There are corners in your heart that no 
human eye can see; there are trials that no 
human friend can help you bear; there are 
perplexities and longings which you can never 
explain to an earthly friend. But Jesus 
knows. He understands. He loves, and He 
wants to help and comfort. The beautiful 
poem about His care, written by Fanny Edna 
Stafford, is for you: 



■Alone 



50 



Alone with God 



"Somebody knows when your heart aches, 

And everything seems to go wrong; 
Somebody knows when the shadows 

Need chasing away with a song; 
Somebody knows when you^re lonely, 

Tired, discouraged, and blue; 
Somebody wants you to know Him, 

And know that He dearly loves you. 

"Somebody cares when you're tempted. 

And the world grows dizzy and dim ; 
Somebody cares when you're weakest, 

And farthest away from Him; 
Somebody grieves when youVe fallen. 

Though you are not lost from His sight; 
Somebody waits for your coming. 

Taking the gloom from your night. 

"Somebody loves you when weary; 

Somebody loves you when strong; 
Always is waiting to help you. 

Watches you, one of the throng 
Needing His friendship so holy. 

Needing His watch-care so true. 
His name? — We call His name Jesus. 

His people? — Just I and just youJ* 

For the friend of Jesus there is peace, un- 
disturbed peace, in this world of trouble. ''In 
the Pitti Palace at Florence hangs a picture 
which represents a stormy sea, with wild 
waves, and black clouds, and fierce lightning 
flashing across the sky. Wrecks float on the 
angry waters, and here and there a human 
face is seen. Out of the midst of the waves 
a rock rises, against which the waters dash in 
vain. It towers high above the crest of the 
waves. In a cleft of the rock are some tufts 



Jesus and I Are Friends 51 

of grass and green herbage, with sweet flowers 
blooming; and amid these a dove is seen sit- 
ting on her nest, quiet and undisturbed by the 
wild fury of the storm or the mad dashing of 
the waves." The picture fitly represents the 
peace of the Christian amid the sorrows and 
trials of the world. He is hidden in the cleft 
of the Rock of Ages, and nestles securely in 
the bosom of God's unchanging love. 

How comfortable and happy you are in the 
presence of a sympathetic friend whom you 
trust implicitly ! You understand each other's 
half spoken thoughts, and even periods of 
silence do not arouse suspicion. But no one 
has ever tasted the deepest joys of friendship, 
who has not made Jesus his closest friend; for, 
as David says, "In Thy presence is fullness of 
joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures 
forevermore." Henry Martyn's diary con- 
tained this sentence, which bears out the 
psalmist's thought: "My chief enjoyment was 
the enjoyment of God's presence." 

When Gladstone was asked, "What is the 
most important question before England?" 
he replied, "The most important question be- 
fore England to-day or any day is one's per- 
sonal relation to Jesus Christ." That is the 
most important question before young people 



52 



Alone tvith God 



to-day. ^'Remember now thy Creator in the 
days of thy youth." Young friends, "What 
think ye of Christ?" Can you say, "Jesus and 
I are friends"? When an old man, Darwin 
confessed that he had failed to become per- 
sonally acquainted with Jesus when young, 
and somehow in old age, he lost the ability to 
cultivate the friendship of the best of all 
friends. One day, a Christian worker sat 
down and talked with the learned Professor 
Huxley about the Saviour, His love, His 
power to save from sin, and to transform the 
lives of those who come to Him. Professor 
Huxley's eyes filled with tears as he stretched 
out his right hand, and said, "Oh, I would 
give this if I only could believe that." Truly 
youth is the golden age of opportunity; and 
the greatest opportunity of all is to make 
Jesus a close personal friend now, for "youth 
comes twice to none." 

How can this friendship be formed? How 
can young Christians make Jesus Christ a 
real personal friend? Years ago, there was 
an old German professor whose beautiful life 
was a marvel to his students. Some of them 
resolved to know the secret of it; so one of 
their number hid in the study where the old 
professor usually spent his evenings. It was 



Jesus and I Are Friends 53 

late when the teacher came in. He was very 
tired, but he sat down and spent an hour with 
his Bible. Then he bowed his head in secret 
prayer; and finally closing the Book of books, 
he said, "Well, Lord Jesus, we're on the same 
old terms." Just so in the chamber of se- 
cret prayer and devotional Bible study, every 
young Christian may meet Jesus, and learn 
to know Him as He is — the best of all per- 
sonal friends. 

In a certain chapel, there is a bust of our 
Lord before which a stool is placed, that the 
beholder may kneel and look. To the one who 
is standing up, the bust has no beauty. It is 
essential to kneel in order to see the glory and 
beauty of the countenance. So, as long as 
we stand in self-satisfaction, we see no beauty 
in Christ; but the moment there is humbling 
of soul before God on account of sin, we be- 
hold an excellence we did not see before in 
Christ. We should study Him often upon 
our knees before the open Book. 

To know Him is life's highest attainment; 
and at ail costs, every Christian should strive 
to be "on the same old terms" with Him. The 
reality of Jesus comes as a result of secret 
prayer, and a personal study of the Bible, that 
is devotional and sympathetic. Christ be- 



54 



Alone with God 



comes real to the person who studies the Bible 
record of His life, His work, His words. He 
remains real to the one who continues to study 
Chi'ist, and meditates upon Him. J. R. Mott 
says: ''Christ becomes real to one who persists 
in the cultivation of the habit of reminding 
one's self of His presence." ''By associating 
with those to w^hom Christ is a great reality, 
He may be made more real to us. We should 
associate not only with living Christians who 
know Chi^ist at first hand, but also those who 
in other times lived near to Him." He also 
says that whenever his faith becomes dim, or 
Chi^ist becomes unreal, all he needs to do is 
to spend some time with the biographies of 
persons who have been intimately acquainted 
with Christ. 

Then, too, the Holy Spirit will help the 
young Christian to know Jesus as a close per- 
sonal friend. David Hill, a missionary in 
China, once said, "I have lately felt great 
nearness to God in pleading for the salvation 
of souls here." The more we try to help 
others to know Him, the more real He will 
become to us; the more we sacrifice for Him, 
the better w^e shall know Him, and the more 
w^e shall love Him. 



Jesus and I Are Friends 55 



"And not for sign in heaven above 
Or earth beneath we look, 
Who know, with John, His smile of love. 
With Peter, His rebuke." 

If, after you and Jesus have become 
friends, He should grow unreal again, remem- 
ber that it is your fault; for as an editorial in 
the Sunday School Times says: "Nothing ever 
dims our consciousness of the personal pres- 
ence and fullness of Christ but our own sin. 
We may not know what the sin is that is dull- 
ing our joy in Him. We may rebel and pro- 
test, trying to make ourselves think that it is 
not our fault, but that He has arbitrarily and 
unjustly withdrawn His presence from us. 
That will not set matters right. Nothing but 
a fresh surrender, in an abandonment of 
confessed helplessness and worthlessness and 
utter dependence upon Christ, in faith, will 
enable Him to surcharge our life with Him- 
self, and make Himself known and felt again 
in the old joyous overwhelming of our being. 
The electricity cannot make the carbon fila- 
ment glow with light and fire until that fila- 
ment is insulated from everything else, and is 
yielded up to the electricity alone. Nor can 
we glow with the light and fire of Christ until 
we have let Him cut us off from everything 
else, insulate us into yielded and complete con- 



56 Alone icitJi God 

ductors of Himself and the current of His 
love and power. When the light ceases in the 
electric lamp, you know there is a break some- 
where; either the msulation or the connection 
is not complete. It may take considerable 
search to find the break; but you know it is 
there. So of our interruptions of fellovv'ship 
with God in Christ. Connection with Him. 
and disconnection with all else — ^both of these 
must be complete, or He cannot do for us 
what He vrould." 

Xothing, absolutely nothing, can separate 
us from this Friend, except our ov^n sins. He 
never forsakes those who cling to Him. Paul 
says, *"I am persuaded, that neither death, nor 
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, 
nor things present, nor things to come, nor 
height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall 
be able to separate us from the love of God, 
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord/' 

"Jesus whispers, 'I am with you 
In the sunshine, in the cloud, 
When the spirit is exalted, 

When the stricken head is bowed.' 

''Jesus whispers, 'I am with you 
In the battle every day; 
Standing by you in the conflict, 
Groing 'vvith you all the way.' 

"Jesus whispers, 'I am ^nth you 
In the hour of deepest need ; 



Je8U8 and I Are Friends 



57 



When the way is dark and lonesome, 
I am with you, I will lead.' 

"Jesus whispers, *I am with you — 
With you still, whatever betide ; 
In the sunlight or the shadow, 
I am ever at thy side.' " 

A little girl lying at the point of death 
called her father. She put her arms around 
his neck, and asked, ''Father, what shall I tell 
Jesus is the reason you do not love Him?" 
The father's heart was broken, and after a 
moment's silence, he said, "Oh, my child, tell 
Him that I do love Him." Do you love 
Him? Can you say to-day, ''Jesus and I are 
friends"? Jesus wants you to be His friend. 
He is not trying to keep away from you. Oh, 
no! He not only says, "Him that cometh 
to Me I will in no wise cast out," but He is 
trying to win every young person who is not 
His friend. He is standing patiently at the 
door of every unentered heart, knocking for 
admission, and saying, "I have loved you with 
an everlasting love." What are you telling 
Him is your reason for not loving Him? 

"0 Jesus, Thou art standing 

Outside the fast-closed door, 
In lowly patience waiting 

To cross the threshold o'er; 
We bear the name of Christian, 

His name and sign we bear; 
Oh, shame, thrice shame upon us, 

To keep Him standing there!" 




The Living^ Word 

COUNTLESS volumes have been written on 
this theme without exhausting it, and wit- 
nesses to the Bible still multiply. The mighty 
past is speaking. God is bringing forth its testi- 
mony. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, have broken the 
silence of the ages. The moldering monuments, 
the buried cities, the sandy deserts, the sculptured 
rocks, have found a voice. Sinai and Petra, 
Horeb and Hermon, echo the sacred oracles. Mem- 
phis and Tyre, Tadmor and Nineveh, have risen 
from their graves. The painted papyrus, the pic- 
tured walls, the stony tablets, the rusted medals 
and coins, bring forth their testimony. The ruins, 
the rivers, the mountains, and the seas cry out, 
"Thy word is truth." And the living witness, as 
well as the dead. The Samaritan still lingers at 
Sychar ; the Jew still wanders in every land. The 
church of Christ still lives, and spreads through- 
out the world. The gospel still regenerates. The 
promised Spirit still sanctifies, and witnesses in 
Christian hearts. In a word, history and experi- 
ence confirm the Scriptures, and assure us that 
through the prophets of the Old Testament and 
the apostles of the New, and above all, through 
His Son, God Himself has spoken to our race; and 
that the word which He has spoken liveth and 
abideth forever. — H, Grattan Guinness, 



(58) 



Alone with God's Word 



"Search the Scriptures." John 5 : 39. 

*'The Bible, the whole Bible, nothing but the Bible, 
is the standard and the rule of Christianity. To know 
its meaning for ourselves, to rely on its promises, to 
trust in its Redeemer, to obey Him from delight of 
love, and to refuse to follow any other teaching, is 
Christianity itself/' — T. W. Medhurst, in ''The Fun- 
damentals/' 



CHAPTER V 



RETURlSrED missionary was ad- 
dressing a group of young ministers 
who were planning to go to China. In his 
closing remarks, he said: "You may learn to 
speak Chinese glibly, you may adopt Chinese 
customs, eat with chopsticks, and even wear a 
cue; but unless you are faithful in secret 
prayer and personal Bible study, you will be 
failures as missionaries in China." Secret 
prayer and personal Bible study go together; 
they are inseparable. Prayer is the breath 
of the spiritual life, and personal Bible study 
is its food. 

R. F. Horton, in "Victory in Christ," says: 
"The one sure and never failing method of 
living the victorious life is daily study of the 

(59) 



60 Alone zvith God 

. Bible, — study J not hasty reading; daily ^ not 
at fitful intervals. That study must be with 
prayer, and faith, and a single-eyed desire to 
know the will of God and to do it. Such a 
devotional and habitual use of the Bible, be- 
yond all dispute, leads to a full experience of 
God's love, of Christ's saving power, of the 
indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Bible 
of any one who has lived the life with which 
we are concerned is yellow with years, thin at 
the edges with constant turning of the paper, 
scored with the lines and marks which are all 
monuments of truths seen and help received, 
stained with tears which have been often tears 
of penitence, but sometimes tears of joy, fall- 
ing like a tender rain when the glory of God 
has suddenly shone out from the page." 

The lives of Christians in all countries 
and in all ages demonstrate the transforming 
power of God's word. Some one asked a 
young man how he knew the Bible is inspired ; 
he replied, ''Because it inspires me." Alex- 
ander Maclaren attributed his life of power 
to two things : first, the habit of personal Bible 
study (it is said that for sixty years his study 
of the Scriptures in the original was not in- 
terrupted for a single day) ; second, the place 
he gave Christ in his life. 



Alone with God's Word 61 

Wherever the Bible goes, it helps to bring 
about a feeling of brotherly love. An English 
trader was reminded of this when he landed on 
a once cannibal island. Seeing a native study- 
ing his Bible, the trader said to him, "Oh, that 
Book is out of date in our country." "It is?" 
asked the native. "Well, if it were out of date 
here, you would have been eaten long ago." 

"Years ago, a young infidel was traveling 
in the West with his uncle, a banker, and they 
were not a little anxious for their safety when 
they were forced to stop for a night in a rough 
wayside cabin. There were two rooms in the 
house; and when they retired for the night, 
they agreed that the young man should sit 
with his pistols, and watch until midnight, and 
then awaken his uncle, who should watch until 
morning. Presently they peeped through a 
crack, and saw their host, a rough looking old 
man, in his bearskin suit, reach up and take 
down a Bible; and after reading it a while, he 
knelt and began to pray. Then the young 
infidel began to pull off his coat and get ready 
for bed. The uncle said, 'I thought you were 
going to sit up and watch.' But the young 
man knew there was no need of sitting up, 
pistol in hand, to watch all night long in a 



62 



Alone with God 



cabin that was hallowed by the word of God 
and consecrated by the voice of prayer." 

The world owes more to the Book of books 
than human tongue can tell. Wherever the 
Bible goes, it carries with it life's choicest 
blessings. It is the maker of happy homes 
and peaceful communities. The Mosaic in- 
stitutions are the foundation of the laws in 
civilized countries. The best that you find in 
literature is largely made up of jewels from 
this inexhaustible mine of truth. William J. 
Bryan, whose addresses often are studded 
with gems from the sacred Book, pays it this 
tribute: "Wherever the moral standard is 
being lifted up, — wherever life is becoming 
larger in the vision that directs it, and richer 
in its fruitage, — the improvement is traceable 
to the Bible, and to the influence of the God 
and Christ of whom the Bible tells." 

From an educational standpoint, the Bible 
is the Book of books. Charles Dudley War- 
ner, a great magazine writer, says: ''A fair 
knowledge of the Bible is in itself almost a 
liberal education, as many great masters in 
literature have testified. It has so entered 
into law, literature, thought, the whole modern 
life of the Christian world, that ignorance of 
it is a most serious disadvantage to the stu- 



Alone with God's Word 63 

dent." Ruskin, the great art critic, tells, in 
his autobiography, how his mother ''established 
his soul in life" by making him read and com- 
mit to memory large portions of the Bible. 
He says: ''To this discipline, patient, accurate, 
and resolute, I owe much of my general power 
of taking pains, and the best part of my taste 
in literature. I count it, very confidently, the 
most precious, and, on the whole, the one es- 
sential part of my education." 

It would seem that a book so thoroughly 
good, so essentially helpful, so unmistakably 
divine, could have no enemies. But, as H. L. 
Hastings said: "The Bible is a book which has 
been refuted, demolished, overthrown, and ex- 
ploded more times than any other book you 
ever heard of. Every little while, somebody 
starts up and upsets this book; and it is like 
upsetting a solid cube of granite. It is just as 
big one way as the other; and when you have 
upset it, it is right side up ; and when you over- 
turn it again, it is right side up still. Every 
little while, somebody blows up the Bible ; but 
when it comes down, it always lights on its 
feet, and runs faster than ever through the 
world." 

Voltaire said, "The Bible is an exploded 
book." Thirty-two years ago, R. G. Inger- 



64 



Alone zcith God 



soli said, ''In ten years, the Bible will not be 
read." So infidels have prophesied. They 
have attacked the word of God; but each time, 
they have broken their weapons on this great 
Gibraltar of truth. From every battle, God's 
Book comes forth victorious, and presses on to 
make new conquests. Every country in the 
world, with the exception of Tibet, Afghanis- 
tan, and some of the Mohanmiedan states of 
Xorth Africa, is now open to the circulation 
of the Bible. Twenty-seven Bible societies 
are printing the Bible, — two in the United 
States, three in Great Britain, and twenty-two 
on the European continent. More copies of 
the Bible are sold annually than of any other 
one hundi^ed books combined. Ten million 
Bibles in English are distributed every year. 

Then why is it, with this wonderful Book 
of books m the hands of every Clu'istian, that 
so few are living the life that counts? — Simply 
because the Bible is not studied and appre- 
ciated as it should be. Cut an army off from 
its supplies, and it must soon retreat. Cut a 
Christian off from his Bible, ''the sword of the 
Spirit," and he is bound to be defeated in the 
conflict with the enemy. Our ]Master, when 
on earth, knezv the Scriptures. He made 



Alone with God's Word 



65 



them a part of His life; and He vanquished 
the enemy with, "It is written." 

Jesus prayed, ''Sanctify them through Thy 
truth: Thy word is truth;" and He com- 
manded us to ''search the Scriptures." At 
another time, He said, ''Ye shall know the 
truth, and the truth shall make you free." A 
great general once ordered an iron armor. 
When it was brought, he asked, "Is it safe?" 
"Yes, sir," replied the messenger. "Then put 
it on, and let me test it," commanded the 
general. The armor that Christ asks us to 
put on has been tested. He wore it, and was 
safe; for He "was in all points tempted like 
as we are, yet without sin." Our only safety, 
in these troublous times, lies in an experimen- 
tal knowledge of the Scriptures and an un- 
broken communion with Heaven. 

No one can be a successful soul winner 
without being a Bible student. He must 
know his Guidebook. What would you think 
of a man posing as a guide, who did not know 
where to find the places of most interest to 
tourists? In order to be a good guide, you 
must also be a strong Christian. "Lean Chris- 
tians," says one, "own Bibles, but feed on 
newspapers." Study your Bible, and study 
it with the determination to live it. The Word 



5 — Alone 



66 Alone with God 

must abide in us. Yes, read your Bible; for 
"from the first chapter of Genesis onward, 
the whole Bible is, in symbol or in fact, a 
record of the victorious life, the delineation of 
what it is, the demonstration of how it can be 
lived." No matter what higher criticism says, 
he who reads the Bible sincerely, finds it still 
quick and powerful. Its words are fresh as 
the morning dew; and somehow, ''they bring 
us to God, and they bring God to us, and 
form a means of communication by which we 
can live our life with and for God." 

William Carey was a busy cobbler; but 
with the open Bible on one side of his bench, 
and a map of the world on the other, he found 
time to study the sinner's Guidebook and the 
heathen's need. Spurgeon said: "I should 
like to see a huge pile of all the books, good 
and bad, that were ever written, prayer books, 
and sermons, and hymn books, and all, smok- 
ing like Sodom of old, if the reading of these 
books keeps you away from the reading of the 
Bible; for a ton weight of human literature is 
not worth an ounce of Scripture. One single 
, drop of the essential tincture of the word of 
God is better than a sea full of our comment- 
ings, and sermonizings, and the like." 



/ 



Alone with God's Word 67 

My dear young friend, would you live the 
life that counts? Then you must be a Bible 
student— you must spend much time alone 
with God and His word. As you and I 
"try to become acquainted with our heavenly 
Father through His word, angels will draw 
near, our minds will be strengthened, our 
characters will be elevated and refined. We 
shall become more like our Saviour." Every 
young Christian, through faithful, prayerful 
Bible study, may say with the psalmist, "Thy 
word have I hid in mine heart, that I might 
not sin against Thee." 

There are other reasons why you should 
study your Bible. In all the vicissitudes of 
life, that Book meets every need of the human 
heart ; and every young Christian should know 
this for himself. In heathen lands or in civi- 
lized countries, in prisons or in palaces, in 
times of famine or in days of feasting, in pov- 
erty or in prosperity, that precious Book 
speaks to the human heart. When enjoying 
the comforts of peace or when suffering the 
calamities of war ; while absorbed in the things 
of this world or while meditating on the 
glories of the next; when thrilling with ex- 
uberant health or when languishing on beds 
of sickness; when rejoicing over the cradle or 



68 



Alone icith God 



when weeping over the grave; when doubt, 
perplexity, and fear struggle for possession, 
or when pleasure, wealth, and popularity 
lead to forgetfulness, — yes, under all circum- 
stances, as many have testified, the Book of 
God has a message for the human heart — just 
the message it needs. 

And you should study your Bible because 
it will inspire you with courage and determi- 
nation to press on. The men and women on 
its pages are so human! They did not always 
succeed; sometimes they, too, failed. The 
Bible record shows us how patiently and 
sympathetically God deals with His erring 
children, and it reminds us that "'He knoweth 
our frame; He remembereth that zx:e are 
dust." How comforting it is to know that the 
Father understands me I And I knoic He 
does; for the pages of His Book mirror my 
own heart, and meet its hidden needs. Whv 
should we not study the Book that tells of 
God's wonderful love, of His constant care, 
and of His unquenchable desii^e to save us? 

But I think there is no stronger reason for 
urging you to spend much time with the Book 
of books than this: It will make Jesus more 
real to you than any earthly friend. He is 
always near. He always has time to visit. 



Alone with God's Word 



69 



There is nothing you cannot talk over with 
Him; and He always understands, sympa- 
thizes, and gives the counsel needed. You 
and I may have Him walk so close beside us 
that He can hear our thoughts and feel our 
heartaches. He is the one Friend we can al- 
ways keep. He is the one Friend we cannot 
spare; for truly, as He has said, ''Without Me 
ye can do nothing." He is the one Friend 
through whom you and I can do all things we 
should do to be true Christians ; and the Bible 
is the book that will bring Him into our lives 
and make Him the closest and most real of all 
friends. 

Do you not love the Bible? If you do not, 
there is only one explanation: You do not 
know the Book. You have not been drinking 
deeply enough of its living waters to wash the 
dust of common things out of your throat. 
Drink deeply, and you will long for it as the 
''hart panteth after the water brooks." Drink 
deeply, and you will seek it as the desert trav- 
eler seeks the cooling spring. Drink deeply, 
and you will find it the panacea for all human 
needs. 

Thy word is everlasting truth. 

How pure is every page ! 
Thy holy Book shall guide my youth, 

And well support my age. 

— Isaac Watts, 




Take time to be holy. Speak oft with thy Lord; 

Abide in Him always, and feed on His word; 

Make friends of God's children; help those who 
are weak, 

Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek. 

Take time to be holy. The world rushes on; 
Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone. 
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be ; 
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see. 

Take time to be holy. Let Him be thy Guide, 
And run not before Him, whatever betide ; 
In joy or in sorrow, still follow thy Lord, 
And looking to Jesus, still trust in His word. 

Take time to be holy. Be calm in thy soul, 
Each thought and each motive beneath His control. 
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love. 
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above. 

— W, D. Longstaff, 



(70) 



Take Time to Pray 



"Pray without ceas- 
ing/' 1 Thess. 5: 17. 

"Be not too busy with thy work and care 
To look to God, to clasp thy hand in His. 
Miss thou all else, but fail not thou of this, 
Thou need'st not all alone thy burdens bear ; 
Listen and wait, obey and learn His will. 
His love and service all thy life shall fill." 



CHAPTER VI 



''^^HE great freight and passenger trains 
are never too busy to stop for coal and 
water. No matter how congested the yards 
may be, no matter how crowded the schedules 
are, no matter how many things demand the 
attention of the trainmen, those trains always 
stop for coal and water. But why do they 
spend time stopping for coal and water when 
there is so much to do? — Oh, those men know 
they cannot run without these supplies. Coal 
and water are the source of power. The trains 
just must take time to be supplied with power. 
If they did not, the railroad traffic would be 
tied up. "Dead engines" with their trains 
would be strewn along the road, and traveling 
would be not only dangerous, but impossible. 
So the trains take time to be supplied with 

(71) 



72 



Alone with God 



power enough for efficient service. But hav e 
you ever stopped to think how seriously the 
work of God's church is blockaded by the 
''dead" Christians who are not willing to stop 
long enough to get power from God to serve 
Him acceptably? 

When General Gordon was in Africa, he 
was very busy; but he found time to pray. 
Every morning, there was spread outside of 
his tent a handkerchief, to remind the soldiers 
that their general was having an interview 
with the great General of heaven and earth. 

One morning, some friends called to see a 
Christian business man. Their errand seemed 
urgent. The clerk said, ''You cannot see him 
now." "But we must." Finally the clerk 
yielded, and saying, "I will show you where 
he is," led the way back into the storeroom 
among the boxes. There in that quiet, se- 
cluded part of the store was the business man. 
He was on his knees praying, and before him 
lay an open Bible. 

Of George Washington's private religious 
habits, his nephew, Robert Lewis, says: "I 
accidentally witnessed Washington's private 
devotions in his library, both morning and 
evening. On these occasions, I saw him in 
a kneeling posture, with a Bible open be- 



Take Time to Pray 78 

fore him." Another writer adds: "When 
Mrs. Washington's sixteen-year-old daughter, 
Martha Custis, lay dying at Mount Vernon, 
Washington knelt beside her, and tearfully 
prayed that her life might be spared. At 
Valley Forge, Washington was frequently 
seen to retire to a secluded grove. Mr. Potts, 
a Quaker, followed him on one occasion, and 
saw him on his knees in prayer. He returned, 
and told his family he was sure the American 
cause would prevail, because he had seen the 
American commander in prayer." 

Never was prayer needed more than it is 
just now. And truly, as S. D. Gordon says 
in ''Quiet Talks on Prayer": 

''The great people of the earth to-day are 
the people who pray, — people who take time 
to pray. They have not time. It must be 
taken from something else. That something - 
else is important, very important and press- 
ing, but still, less important and pressing than 
prayer. There are people who put prayer 
first, and group the other items in life's sched- 
ule around and after prayer. These are the 
people to-day who are doing the most for 
God; in winning souls; in solving problems; 
in awakening churches ; in supplying both men 
and money for mission posts; in keeping fresh 



74 



A 1 0 n e with God 



and strong their lives far off in sacrificial serv- 
ice on the foreign field, where the thickest 
fighting is going on; in keeping the old earth 
sweet a little while longer." 

Prayer is the most important factor in 
Cliristian life; for the Clu^istian^s first duty 
is, rightly to represent his JMaster to others — 
to live the life that counts; and prayer is the 
breath of the life that counts. Some one tells 
a story of a young artist who desired to copy 
a beautiful picture that hung in a palace. He 
could not obtain permission to copy it in the 
palace, so he determined to reproduce it from 
memory. Hour after hour, he would sit and 
gaze at the picture, until it took possession of 
him. Then he would hurry to his studio, and 
begin to paint. Each day, he spent some time 
gazing on the original. As he gazed and 
studied and toiled, his power grew. Finally 
there hung in his studio such a wonderful 
copy, that all who saw it said, "We must see 
the original." It should be the object of all 
our Christian service, to represent our Sav- 
iour so well that men will say, ''We must 
see Jesus." Time spent gazing upon Him is 
not lost. By beholding, we become changed. 
The more tune w^e spend with Him, the more 
we shall grow to be like Him. 



T ake Time to Pray 75 

There is another reason why prayer is the 
most important factor in Christian life, and 
that is that prayer is the greatest power on 
earth for winning souls. Of his conversion, 
Hudson Taylor says: "One day, which I shall 
never forget, when I was about fifteen years 
old, my dear mother being absent from home 
some eighty miles away, I had a holiday. I 
searched through the library for a book to 
while away time. I selected a gospel tract 
which looked attractive, saying: 'There will 
be an interesting story at the commencement, 
and a sermon or a moral at the end. I will 
take the former, and leave the latter for those 
who like it.' I little knew what was going on 
in the heart of my dear mother. She arose 
from the dinner table with an intense yearning 
for the conversion of her boy, and feeling that, 
being from home, and having more leisure 
than she otherwise would, there was a special 
opportunity afforded her of pleading with 
God for me. She went to her bedroom, turned 
the key in the door, and resolved not to leave 
the room until her prayers were answered. 
Hour after hour did that dear mother plead 
for me, until she could praise God for the con- 
version of her son. In the meantime, as I was 
reading the tract, 'The Finished Work of 



76 



A 1 0 n e with God 



Christ,' a light was flashed into my soul by the 
Holy Spirit, that there was nothing to be done 
but to fall on my knees and accept this Saviour 
and His salvation, and praise God forever- 
more. While my mother was praising God in 
her closet, I was praising Him in the old ware- 
house where I had retired to read my book. 
When I met mother at the door, on her re- 
turn, with the glad news, she said: 'I know, 
my boy; I have been rejoicing for a fortnight 
in the glad tidings you have to tell me.' " 

"Up in a little town in Maine," said Dr. 
Torrey, in an address, "things were pretty 
dead some years ago. The churches were not 
accomplishing anything. There were a few 
godly men in the churches, and they said: 
'Here we are, only uneducated laymen; but 
something must be done in this town. Let us 
form a praying band. We will all center our 
prayers on one man. Who shall it be?' They 
picked out one of the hardest men in town, a 
hopeless drunkard, and centered all their 
prayers upon him. In a week, he was con- 
verted. They centered their prayers upon the 
next hardest man in town, and soon he was 
converted. Then they took up another and 
another, until within a year, two or three hun- 
dred were brought to God, and the fire spread 



Take Time to Pray 77 

out into all the surrounding country. Definite 
prayer for those in the prison house of sin is 
the need of the hour." 

All service should begin in prayer, and be 
saturated with prayer; for prayer dissolves 
difficulties. After good evangelistic meetings 
in a California college, some one said to a 
young man who had been much troubled over 
certain questions of faith, "Your difficulties 
don't seem very important, do they?" His 
face beamed with heavenly joy as he answered, 
''They're all gone." Yes, prayer always is 
doing the impossible things in the world. 

During the early history of the theological 
seminary at Alleghany, the institute was fre- 
quently in financial straits. ''One time, when 
it was in great need of funds, and had reached 
a very trying monetary extremity, Dr. Her- 
ron, the president of the board of directors, 
called a meeting of the board. There were 
only three in attendance, including the presi- 
dent himself. Dr. Herron, Dr. Swift, and 
Dr. Patterson composed the council. Dr. 
Herron expressed it as his opinion that un- 
less immediate financial assistance arrived, the 
further perpetuation of the institution was 
impossible. 'Oh,' he said, in a very discour- 
aged tone of voice, 'we have no one to help 



78 



Alone rcith God 



us.' 'Xo one to help usT repeated Dr. Pat- 
terson. 'Why, I know of a thousand.' 'A 
thousand!' exclaimed Dr. Herron. 'I do not 
understand. I ^\ish you would explam.' 
'Well, the explanation is this,' replied Dr. 
Patterson: 'I am a cipher, Dr. S^vift is a 
cipher, and you are a cipher ; but Jesus Christ 
is a miit, and my mathematical education 
teaches me that a unit with three ciphers on 
the right side make a thousand. So I know 
of a thousand who are ready and willing to 
help. And as man's extremity is God's op- 
portunity, let us pray.' They prayed; help 
came; help remained. The seminary was en- 
dowed; and from the dii-ectors' prayer meet- 
mg to the present time, few financial disturb- 
ances haye interfered with the prosperity of 
the mstitution. Thank God for the power 
and the utility of prayer." 

Yet, in the face of these and iimumerable 
other facts, showing plainly that ''prayer is 
the greatest force in God's great world," men 
and women, Cln^istian men and women, men 
and women who declare stoutly that they be- 
lieye these facts, say they camiot find time to 
pray. "I haye only made one New Year's 
resolution," said a busy house^dfe; "I haye 
resolyed to take time, through this new year, 



T ake Time to Pray 79 

to be holy." But, says William T. McElveen, 
in the Advance for March 6, 1913: "For the 
American to meditate is most difficult. He 
has little time to muse. The world is with him 
too late and too soon. He doesn't think that 
he is traveling unless he is going at the rate of 
sixty miles an hour. He lives in a delectable 
pell-mell and carnival of hurry. He has no 
leisure to brood." 

"Too tired to pray! 0 Father, tired of toiling, 
Tired of the heavy load, the blistering way, 
Weary of all the monotone of moiling. 
Tired out — too tired to pray ! 

"Too sad to pray! Undone, my God, with trouble. 
The same dull heartache borne another day. 
My life an empty field of worthless rubble. 
And I — too sad to pray ! 

"Too sinful — yes, for any further praying. 
Too proud to hear, too wicked to obey, 
Loathing the desert path, yet ever straying, 
And gone too far to pray ! 

"O Christ, pray for me ! Weary, sad, in silence. 

My impotence at Thy dear feet I lay. 
Jesus, my final Help, my All-Reliance, 
Pray — for I cannot pray." 

How often, in our hustle, we forget to put 
first things first! As G. H. Knight says: 
''What we need above all things, in these 
crowded days, is the setting apart of many 
listening times, times of quiet, in which we 
can hear the heavenly voices that call to us 



80 



Alone icith God 



unregarded in the busy day. . . . God has 
something to say to us which, in the whir of 
our eartlily ambitions, we cannot hear; and 
He makes the noises of the outer world to 
cease, that He may speak to the soul. Some- 
times He tries us in the night; sometimes He 
giveth songs in the night: but all these we 
shall utterly miss if there is no quiet time in 
which He can come very near to us. There 
are many ways of preparing to receive bless- 
ings from on high; but one of the most es- 
sential is this: 'Commune with your own heart, 
and be still.' " 

Taking time to listen is an important part 
of prayer. We often are so practical in tem- 
poral things, and so impractical in religious 
matters! Often we tell God hurriedly of a 
hundred different things, and rush off before 
He has time to respond in any way. We do 
not wrestle, we do not pray through into the 
Master's presence, where He can speak peace 
to our troubled hearts. Our prayers must 
often seem like mockery to Him. Phillips 
Brooks tells of a little boy whom he saw 
struggling to ring a doorbell that was too 
high for him to reach. Out of sympathy, he 
stepped up to help the little lad. As soon 
as the bell rang, the mischievous little fellow 



Take Time to Pray 81 

turned his roguish eyes up to Mr. Brooks, and 
said, ''Now, let's scoot." There was nothing 
for Mr. Brooks to do but to apologize for the 
little mischief-maker. I wonder sometimes 
how often our Mediator has to apologize for 
our rushing away without taking time to lis- 
ten. F. B. Myers once said he always spent 
about fifteen minutes after prayer and Bible 
study just listening; and his testimony was 
that in that time of quiet meditation, "God 
has never failed to give me a program for 
the day." 

In God's great universe. He knows no 
haste and no delays. He takes time to change 
the fields of waving green into ripened wheat. 
He takes time to paint the rose. And He 
wants to take time to make your life perfect, 
beautiful, and holy, like His own. He is will- 
ing to give His time, but you must also give 
your time in order for Him to do the work. 
Our Saviour, when on earth, took time to 
pray. (Matt. 14: 23; 26: 36, 39; Mark 1: 35; 
Luke 9: 18.) "Therefore," as R. F. Horton 
says, "whether the desire for prayer is on you 
or not, get to your closet at the set time; shut 
yourself in with God; wait upon Him; seek 
His face; realize Him; pray." 



G — Alone 



82 



Alone with God 



For young Christians, it is well to have 
some devotional helps for the hour of secret 
prayer. The Morning Watch Calendar, pre- 
pared for this special purpose, is excellent 
help. Do systematic reading in the Bible, and 
have a written prayer list of persons and 
things. S. D. Gordon gives the following 
valuable suggestions: (1) "Guard jealously 
a quiet, unhurried spuit. (2) Remember you 
have come to meet the Master — come to know 
Him better, to hear His voice, to realize His 
presence, to look into His face. (3) Your 
chief business is listening. (4) Give His 
Book first place in your trysting hour. (5) 
Be frank and honest with the Master as His 
Book points out sins." 

Time spent alone with God is not wasted. 
It changes us; it changes our surroundings; 
and every young Chi'istian who would live 
the life that counts, and who would have 
power for service, must take time to pray. 

Lord, what a change within us one short hour 
Spent in Thy presence will suffice to make! 
What heavy burdens from our bosoms take ! 

What parched grounds revive, as with a shower! 

We kneel, and all around us seems to lower; 
We rise, and all, the distant and the near, 
Stands forth a sunny outline brave and clear. 

We kneel, how weak! We rise, how full of power! 
Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong, 
Or others, that we are not always strong; 



Take Time to Pray 



That we are ever overborne with care; 

That we should ever weak or heartless be, 
Anxious or troubled, when with us is prayer. 

And joy and strength and courage are with Thee! 

— Trench, 



The Silent Hour 

When the cold, gray dawn is breaking, 
And the birds to song are waking, 
When the morn is robed in beauty. 
In the freshness of its flower, — 
Then, before the fevered flurry. 
Then, before the care and worry. 
Ere the labor of thy duty. 
Give thy soul a silent hour! 

In the haven of His quiet. 
Lose the world and all its riot! 
He hath love and joy and gladness. 
Sunshine when the shadows lower; 
So, within the silent even. 
Be thou lifted up to heaven. 
And no shadowing of sadness 
Shall molest thy silent hour! 

Go thy way! Thy soul is stronger! 
Thou canst strive and struggle longer 
For that brief yet glorious vision 
Of thy Father's promised power. 
Wouldst thou have the fabled mixture 
Of the magic life's elixir? — 
Find it in the realms elysian, 
In the mystic silent hour! 

— Llewellyn A, Wilcox, 



Unanswered yet, the prayer your lips have pleaded 
In agony of heart, these many years? 

Does faith begin to fail, is hope declining, 
And think you all in vain those falling tears? 

Say not the Father has not heard your prayer. 

You shall have your desire, sometime, somewhere. 

Unanswered yet, though when you first presented 
This one petition at the Father^s throne. 

It seemed you could not wait the time of asking, 
So anxious was your heart to have it done? 

If years have passed since then, do not despair, 

For God will answer you sometime, somewhere. 

Unanswered yet? But you are not unheeded. 

The promises of God forever stand. 
To Him, our days and years alike are equal. 

''Have faith in God.'' It is your Lord's command. 
Hold on to Jacob's angel, and your prayer 
Shall bring a blessing down sometime, somewhere. 

Unanswered yet? Nay, do not say unanswered. 

Perhaps your part is not yet wholly done. 
The work began when first your prayer was uttered. 

And God will finish what He has begun. 
Keep incense burning at the shrine of prayer. 
And glory shall descend, sometime, somewhere. 

Unanswered yet? Faith cannot be unanswered. 

Her feet are firmly planted on the Rock. 
Amid the wildest storm, she stands undaunted, 

Nor quails before the loudest thunder shock. 
She knows Omnipotence has heard her prayer. 
And cries, "It shall be done, sometime, somewhere." 

— Mrs. F, G. Burroughs, 



(84) 



Essentials to Successful 
Prayer Life 

"Lord, teach us to 
pray." Luke 11 ;1. 

God answers prayer. Sometimes, when hearts are weak, 
He gives the very gifts believers seek. 

But often faith must learn a deeper rest, 
And trust God's silence when He does not speak; 

For He whose name is Love will send the best. 

Stars may burn out, nor mountain v/alls endure ; 

But God is true. His promises are sure 
To those who seek. 

— Plantz. 



CHAPTER VII 



HE young Christian who would live the 
life that counts, who would be equipped 
for successful service, must not only spend 
much time alone with God in prayer, but must 
make the most of this supreme privilege. One 
writer says, ''The stigma upon Christian life 
is the unholy content without any distinct ex- 
periences of answers to prayer." 

In all business relations, one must meet the 
conditions, in order to reap the results. The 
same law obtains in prayer. ''Most prayers 
are not answered, and yet God fulfills His 
promises. The cause of this recognized fail- 
ure, then, must be in the failure to fulfill con- 

(85) 




86 



Alone with God 



ditions." The spii'it of Christ must enter int^ 
every true prayer, and true prayer is always 
answered. ''If our prayers are not answered," 
says D. L. Moody, ''it may be that we have 
prayed without the right motive, or that we 
have not prayed according to the Scriptures." 
Let us see what the elements of true prayer 
are as revealed in the Bible and in the expe- 
riences of others. If you feel that prayer is 
a failure, perhaps it is because some of these 
elements are missing in your own petitions. 

1. Adoeatiox 

Do you adore the God upon whom you call 
for daily blessings? The centurion and the 
S\a^ophoenician woman recognized His supe- 
riority. Some one has said tridv, "If we hnoic 
Christ, we cannot be proud; if we know our- 
selves, we must be humble." 

2. Thanksgiving 

How much thanksgiving do you mix in with 
your prayers? Paul says, "In everything by 
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving 
let your requests be made known unto God.'' 
If Christians would spend more time thanking 
God for His wonderful goodness to the chil- 
dren of men, they vrould have little time or 
disposition to murmur or complain. 



S uccessful Prayer Life 87 

The ©Id farmer kneeling at a soldier's grave 
near Nashville leaves us a good example of 
gratitude. Some one asked him: "Why do 
you pay so much attention to this grave? 
Was your son buried there?" ''No," said he. 
''During the war, my family were all sick. I 
knew not how to leave them. I was drafted. 
One of my neighbors came over and said: 'I 
will go for you; I have no family.' He went. 
He was wounded in the Chickamauga. He 
was carried to the hospital, and there he died. 
And, sir, I have come a great many miles that 
I might write over his grave these words: He 
died for me/' 

The Saviour died for you and me. After 
His resurrection, He went to heaven to plead 
the sinner's case. Every day, He is pleading 
our cases before the heavenly court; every 
day. He is sending His angels to guard us, 
and the Holy Spirit to teach us; every day. 
He is showering upon us the manifold bless- 
ings of life. Surely our hearts should over- 
flow with gratitude, our daily lives should be 
a constant expression of genuine appreciation 
of His wonderful goodness, and our prayers 
should be saturated with praise and thanks- 
giving. 



88 



Alone zc ith God 



3. Confession 

Do you confess to Him your sins in the 
spirit of true penitence? Daniel, the greatly 
beloved, classed himself with his people, and 
seven times, in his prayer, he confessed of- 
fenses of which thej^ were guilty. Xotice the 
prayers of Job, David, the publican. These 
were all uttered in the spirit of humility. Not 
so with Pharaoh's prayer that the plagues be 
stayed, or the Pharisee's proud announcement 
that he was not like other men. Thomas Ful- 
ler says that man's owning his own weakness 
is the only stock onto which God can graft 
the grace of His assistance. Humility and 
confession must characterize the prayer that 
does not fail. God has promised to answer 
the prayer of the humble. (2 Chron. 7: 14.) 

4. Restitution 

So far as lies in your power, have you 
tried to make restitution wherever you have 
wronged others? Zaccheus did. A writer 
commenting on Zaccheus, gives the following 
illustration of restitution: ''Sultan Selymus 
could tell his counselor Pyrrhus, who per- 
suaded him to bestow the great wealth he had 
taken from the Persian merchants upon some 
notable hospital for the relief of the poor. 



Successful Prayer Life 89 

that God hates robbery for burnt offering. 
The dying Turk commanded it rather be re- 
stored to the right owners, which was done 
accordingly, to the great shame of many 
Christians, who mind nothing less than they 
do restitution." 

5. FORGIYENESS 

Did you ever ask God to forgive you for 
an offense while you were harboring in your 
heart a grudge against some one else? And 
did you expect Him to be so inconsistent as 
to do it? 

''I believe," says D. L. Moody, in speaking 
on this subject, "this is keeping more people 
from having power with God than any other 
thing ; they are not willing to cultivate a spirit 
of forgiveness. . . . When you go into the 
door of God's kingdom, you go in through the 
door of forgiveness. I never knew a man to 
get a blessing into his own soul if he was not 
willing to forgive others." If we pray ac- 
cording to His will, we will pray in a for- 
giving spirit, with a heart that harbors no 
grudge; for He has taught us to say, 'Tor- 
give us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." 
The prayer of the unforgiving heart is bound 
to fail. 



90 



Alone with God 



6. Faith 

We are told by James to "ask in faith, 
nothing wavering"; for says he of the one who 
wavers, "Let not that man think that he shall 
receive anything of the Lord." Mere words 
do not constitute prayer. A picture of a fire 
is not a fire; a description of Niagara Falls 
is not the falls. So-called "prayer," says 
Bishop Hall, "if it is only dribbled from care- 
less lips, falls at our feet." To form words 
into prayer — into the effectual prayer that 
pierces the clouds above, and reaches the 
throne of heaven — takes faith; but every child 
of God may pray the "effectual prayer that 
availeth much." Prayer without faith is like 
a check without a signature. It is worthless; 
for the signature below is what gives a check 
value. But the prayer of faith has on it the 
signature of the Lord Jesus Christ, and is 
good for any amount when presented at the 
bank of heaven. (Phil. 4: 19.) 

A little mountain village had been amply 
and regularly supplied with water from a 
lake above; but one morning, the housewives 
opened the faucets in vain. There was a little 
noise, but no water. The pipe connecting the 
village with the lake was carefully examined. 



Successful Prayer Life 91 

No break was found; nothing seemed wrong; 
yet no water came, and the villagers despaired. 
Some moved away. But one day, one of the 
town officials received a note. It said: ''Ef 
you'll jes pull de plug out from de top, you'll 
get all de water you want." The plug was 
removed, there was an abundance of water, 
and prosperity returned to the half -famished, 
half-deserted village. 

How many Christians are robbing them- 
selves of heaven's blessings in just this way! 
They pray ; but the channel through which the 
blessing must come is plugged with unbelief. 
Asking and not believing is like holding a well 
corked bottle under a faucet to be filled. 
Read these words from "Desire of Ages": "It 
is faith that connects us with heaven and 
brings us strength for coping with the powers 
of darkness. In Christ, God has provided 
means for subduing every sinful trait, and re- 
sisting every temptation, however strong." 
And again, from the same author: "The grace 
of God comes to the soul through the channel 
of living faith, and that faith it is in our power 
to exercise. True faith lays hold of and 
claims the promised blessing before it is real- 
ized and felt. We must send up our petitions 
in faith within the second veil, and let faith 



92 



Alone tcith God 



take hold of the promised blessing and claim 
it as ours." 

Faith brings the resom^ces of heaven within 
reach of the hmiiblest petitioner; and the sad 
thing is that there seems to be so little of it 
among Christians. Most Christians exercise 
faith freely in temporal things. For instance, 
you go to a railroad ticket office. You buy 
a ticket, and hand over to the agent your 
money in exchange for a piece of paper that 
will take you to your destination. You do 
not fret and worry, and keep wondering if it 
will take you there. You have confidence in 
the railroad company. You go to the dining 
room, and there unbelief does not seem to 
trouble you ; you eat, definitely expecting your 
food to nourish you. What must God think 
of us when we look up to our never failing 
Friend with distrust and unbelief stamped 
upon our hearts? 

When Christ came down from the Mount 
of Transfiguration, and the perplexed father 
cried to him, ''If Thou canst do am^thing, 
have compassion on us, and help us," Jesus 
replied, ''If thou canst believe, all things are 
possible to him that believeth." That is ex- 
actly what He says to j^ou and to me. And 
shall we not cry, with that Galilean petitioner, 



Successful Prayer Life 93 

''Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief"? 
As Cortland Myers says: "If we could only 
look behind the curtains, we would be able to 
trace the streams of power back to their source 
in the heavens. We would discern that the 
very instant the prayer of faith was uttered in 
the secret silence of the lonely soul, there was 
something taking place at the other end of the 
line, and in other lines, and in other parts of 
the world." 

This absolute faith in God which is needed 
to carry our petitions to the court room above, 
is a most wonderful transformer of human 
life. It lifts one above worry. It gives to 
life a buoyancy that is a tonic to others. It 
inspires others just as the pipers did the 
Highlanders. History tells us that during 
the battle of Waterloo, Wellington discovered 
that the valiant forty-second Highlanders 
were wavering. Immediately the pipers were 
called into the firing line. When those Scotch 
heroes heard the first strains of that martial 
music, they rallied; the lines were quickly re- 
formed; and with a wild cheer, they swept the 
field before them. Even so our faith should 
help to inspire others to be victorious in the 
battle of life. 



94 



Alone with God 



Then, too, absolute faith in God, in His 
personal care for you, gives that wonderful 
peace which pleasure, prosperity, fame, or 
anything else cannot give ; neither can sorrow, 
poverty, nor trouble take it away. The faith 
of Paul and Silas had ripened into perfect 
trustfulness as they sang praises to God in 
the prison dungeon, with iron shackles on 
their feet. Truly, as Isaiah says, "Thou wilt 
keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is 
stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee." 

7. Obedience 

The promise is, ''If ye abide in Me, and 
My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye 
will, and it shall be done unto you." John 
15:7. ''Faith must have for its companion, 
obedience. Faith never walks alone the path 
that leads to the heart of God." Rather, obe- 
dience is the invariable fruit of faith. It is 
the "obedience of faith." 

Several years ago, I attended the Interna- 
tional Student Volunteer Convention. There 
were present, at the first meeting, about five 
thousand student delegates from the colleges 
and universities in the United States and 
Canada. John R. Mott, in his opening ad- 
dress, spoke of the importance of that great 



Successful Prayer Life 95 

gathering. One sentence in that address, I 
think I never shall forget: ''The most obscure 
delegate in this great convention may hinder 
us from getting the appointed blessing." 

Even so, the most obscure known sin hidden 
in the heart of any Christian will hinder him 
from living the life that counts. The terrible 
thing about little pet sins is that they do not 
stay little; they are bound to grow, and ruin 
the life. Some one has said, "Every indul- 
gence is a waste pipe by which we let life run 
into the gutter." The heart that harbors 
known sin cannot get into close touch with 
God, for sin is an insulator. It breaks one's 
connection with heaven. He who would pray 
well must endeavor to live well. There is but 
one prayer for the heart with known sin in it, 
and that is, "Cleanse me." Clinging to sin 
makes praying, effectual praying, impossible; 
for "praying is working with God; sin is 
working against God." 

What would you think if a friend, after 
repeatedly urging you to call, should lock the 
door each time you came near, and refuse to 
let you in? Very soon you would say, "Well, 
he doesn't want me to come, even though he 
keeps on asking me." That is just the way 
some of us treat the Holy Spirit. We want 



96 



Alone with God 



His power in our lives, but we are unwilling 
to give Him the right of way. We must learn 
* that we cannot use the Holy Spirit; we are 
to let Him use us. 

God can use any kind of vessel, large or 
small, metal or wooden; but it must be clean; 
so, naturally, the first thing the Holy Spirit 
does when He is called to enter a human heart, 
is to begin to clean up the life. He points out 
wrong things in it. He puts His finger on 
that pet sin, and says, "This must be cast 
out." If a person had a malignant cancer, 
and the surgeon should say, ''The only thing 
that will save your life is an operation," you 
would consider the patient extremely foolish 
to refuse to have the operation. Yet when 
the divine Surgeon comes to cut cherished 
sins out of our lives in order to save us, how 
many say: "Oh, I never can give those up! 
It seems to me I have to give up so much 
more than any one else!" 

Yes, it will seem so. Living Waters says: 
"If God has called yovi to be really like Jesus, 
He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and 
humility, and put upon you such demands of 
obedience, that you will not be able to follow 
other people, or measure yourself by other 
Christians, and in many ways He will seem 



Successful Prayer Life 97 

to let other good people do things which He 
will not let you do. Settle it forever, then, 
that you are to deal directly with God, and 
that He is to have the privilege of tying your 
tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your 
eyes, in ways that He does not seem to use 
with others. Now when you are so possessed 
with the living God that you are, in your se- 
cret heart, pleased and delighted over this 
peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardian- 
ship and management of the Holy Spirit over 
your life, you will have found the vestibule 
of heaven." 

"Faith has no desire to have its own will, 
when that will is not in accordance with the 
mind of God," says Spurgeon; ''for such a 
desire would at bottom be the impulse of an 
unbelief which did not rely on God's judg- 
ment as our best guide. Faith knows that 
God's will is the highest good, and that any- 
thing which is beneficial to us will be granted 
to our petitions." One day, a woman who was 
very sick was asked whether she desired to live 
or to die. She replied, "Which God pleases." 
"But," asked another, "if God should refer 
it to you, which would you choose?" "Truly," 
came back the answer, "I would refer it to 
Him again." Fenelon, too, was anxious to 



7 — Alone 



98 



Alone with God 



obey the divine will; for he prayed, "O God, 
take my heart, for I cannot give it ; and when 
Thou hast it, keep it, for I cannot keep it for 
Thee; and save me in spite of myself." 

Every young Christian should pray, with 
Fenelon, to be made willing to obey His will 
in all things — always to say, "Thy will be 
done." If obedience brings suffering and 
sacrifice, remember, in the words of Dyer; 
"Afflictions are blessings to us when we can 
bless God for afflictions. Suffering has kept 
many from sinning. God had one Son with- 
out sin, but He never had any without sorrow. 
Fiery trials make golden Christians ; sanctified 
afflictions are spiritual promotions." 

Rutherford exclaimed: "Oh, what owe I to 
the file, to the hammer, to the furnace of my 
Lord Jesus, who hath now let me see how 
good the wheat of Christ is that goeth through 
His mill and His oven to be made into bread 
for His own table! Grace tried is better than 
grace; it is more than grace; it is glory in its 
infancy. Oh, how little getteth Christ of us, 
but that which He winneth with much toil and 
pains! And how soon would faith freeze 
without a cross! . . . Why should I start at 
the plow of my Lord, that maketh deep fur- 



Successful Prayer Life 99 

rows on my soul? I know that He is no idle 
husbandman; He purposeth a crop." 

If you are determined to be an "extraordi- 
nary Christian," and be able to prevail with 
God in prayer, and with men in service, you 
must not grieve the Holy Spirit, but give 
Him the right of way. The hands that are 
lifted up in prayer for power must be clean; 
the arms that are stretched out to save men 
must not be broken. David exclaimed, "The 
Lord rewarded me according to my righteous- 
ness: according to the cleanness of my hands 
hath He recompensed me." 2 Sam. 22:21. 
Cortland Myers puts it in this way: "The 
name of Jesus must be the ruling power in 
life in order to be the ruling power in prayer." 
This sounds almost like slavery; but it is not, 
in the harsh sense of the term; it is slipping 
into the care and guidance of Him who loved 
us so much that He died to save us. And we 
may be sure that He will ask us to give up 
only those things which hurt or hinder our 
life, and, — 

"Sometime, when all life's lessons we have learned, 

And sun and stars forevermore have set, 
The things which our w^ak judgments here have spurned, 

The things o'er which weVe grieved with lashes wet. 
Will flash before us, out of earth's dark night, 

As stars shine most in deepest tints of blue. 
And we shall see how all God's plans were right, 

And what we deemed reproof was love most true." 



100 



Alone with God 



8. Definiteness 

A young minister came to Spurgeon la- 
menting the fact that so few were led to 
Christ under his preaching. ''But," said 
Spurgeon, "you don't expect some one to 
accept Christ in every service, do you?" "Oh, 
no, of course not," said the young man. 
"Well," continued Spurgeon, "that is just 
why you are failing." We must not only 
"attempt great things for God," and "expect 
great things from Him," but we must be 
definite in our requests. The majority of our 
prayers are so general that we do not know 
whether they are answered or not. 

Dr. J. G. K. McClure tells of an invalid 
woman residing in Springfield, Illinois, who 
had been bedridden for seventeen years, and 
was almost helpless. For many years, she 
had been praying to God in a general way to 
save souls. One day, she asked for pen and 
paper. She wrote down the names of fifty- 
seven acquaintances. She prayed for each of 
them by name three times a day. She wrote 
them letters of her interest in them. She also 
wrote to Christian friends in whom she knew 
these persons had confidence, and urged them 
to speak to these persons about their soul's 



Successful Prayer Life 101 

welfare, and do their best to persuade them to 
repent and believe. She had unquestioning 
faith in God. In her humble, earnest depend- 
ence upon Him, she thus interceded for the 
unsaved. In time, every one of these fifty- 
seven persons avowed faith in Jesus Christ as 
his personal Saviour. 

Perhaps you are familiar with the story of 
the boy soul winner in England. After this 
little boy had passed away, they opened a 
small box he had kept with other treasures, 
and found in it a list of forty boys. The 
first one was his seat mate at the time he went 
to the pastor and asked for something to do 
for the Lord, and the last name was Neddie 
Smith. And every hoy on the list was con- 
verted. He had taken them one by one in 
faith and prayer, giving them books to read, 
showing them texts of Scripture, praying with 
and for them till the Lord awakened them, 
and the whole forty had been converted 
through his efforts. 

Shortly after the Civil War, D. L. Moody 
was holding meetings in one of the Southern 
cities. One night, a man came to him weep- 
ing and trembling. Mr. Moody says: "I 
thought something I had said had aroused 



102 



Alone with God 



him, and I began to question him as to what 
it was. I fomid, however, he could not tell 
a word of what I had said. 'My friend,' said 
I, 'what is the trouble?' He put his hand in 
his pocket, and brought out a letter, all soiled, 
as if his tears had fallen on it. 'I got that 
letter,' he said, 'from my sister last night. 
She tells me that every night, she goes to her 
knees and prays to God for me. I think I 
am the worst man in all the Army of the 
Cumberland. I have been perfectly wretched 
to-day.' That sister was six hundred miles 
away; yet she had brought her brother to his 
knees in answer to her earnest, believing 
prayer. It was a hard case; but God heard 
and answered the prayer of this godly sister, 
so that the man was as clay in the hands of the 
potter. He was soon brought into the king- 
dom of God — all through his sister's prayers." 

Stop a moment, and look upon your own 
prayers. How many definite things are you 
pleading with God for day after day? Notice 
some of the wonderful prayers in the Bible: 
Jacob wrestled with God all night, pleading 
with Him to soften Esau's heart, and the 
brothers were reconciled. (Gen. 32:24-30.) 
Elijah asked that the heavens be closed, and 



S uccessful Prayer Life 103 

for three and one half years no rain fell. 
(James 5: 17.) Elisha prayed for the dead 
child, and it was restored to life. (2 Kings 
4:33-35.) Jehoahaz prayed that Israel be 
freed from the yoke of Syria; God heard his 
cry, and sent a deliverer. (2 Kings 13:4.) 
Hezekiah's prayer for deliverance from Sen- 
nacherib's army was answered. (2 Kings 19: 
20.) Jabez made a definite request of God, 
and the record says it was granted. ( 1 Chron. 
4:10.) Asa's prayer brought deliverance 
from the Ethiopians. (2 Chron. 14: 11, 12.) 
Read Jehoshaphat's prayer recorded in 2 
Chron. 20: 6-17. 

The prayers of Manasseh, Ezra, Nehemiah, 
Job, David, Jeremiah, Daniel, the blind man, 
the thief on the cross, Cornelius, and many 
others, show the importance of being definite. 
In fact, how do you know that your prayers 
are not answered, if you are making no defi- 
nite requests? D. L. Moody says: "Our 
prayers go all around the world without any- 
thing definite being asked for. We do not 
expect anything. Many people would be 
greatly surprised if God did answer their 
prayers." Do not forget that while not all 
definite prayers are answered, all answered 
prayers on record were definite. 



104 



Alo 71 e with God 



9. Perseverance 

The world is strewn with men and women 
who are failures because they lacked persever- 
ance in pursuit of some chosen goal. Much 
monej^ has been wasted in good oil fields and 
in mines rich in ore, because the prospectors 
gave up too soon. Cyrus W. Field refused 
to give up, and he brought two continents 
within speaking distance. Regardless of all 
obstacles, and even though the crew threat- 
ened to kill him, Columbus each day wrote in 
his diary, ''And this day we sailed westward, 
as our course was." His perseverance brought 
to Europe's millions a new wwld of oppor- 
tunity. For several months, Edison toiled to 
get his phonograph to say ''Specia." It per- 
sisted in saying ''Pecia," "pecia." But finally 
he conquered. 

Perseverance always wins. The men and 
women who have prayed without ceasing, not 
only have had their prayers answered, but 
have enriched the world and lifted it spiritu- 
allj^ George Miiller prayed for the conver- 
sion of three friends; and he said he knew 
they would become Christians, for he was 
going to pray till they did. Livingstone died 
upon his knees, and he opened a continent for 



Successful Prayer Life 105 

the gospel. ''Over a hundred years ago, a 
number of students in Yale University rose 
each morning before daybreak, and through 
the long winter months, pleaded with God for 
a revival. The revival came, and it is said 
that every student in the university surren- 
dered to Christ." 

A Christian woman in England had an un- 
converted husband. She was anxious that he 
should accept Christ as his personal Saviour. 
Her husband had forbidden her to speak to 
him on the subject; but she knew she could 
take his case to God, and she did. She said 
to herself, ''I am going to pray for his con- 
version every day for twelve months." Every 
day, she went alone with God, and pleaded for 
the conversion of her husband. When the 
year was up, he had not yielded, neither did 
he show any signs of being under conviction. 
She said, ''I am going to keep on six months 
longer." She did. Still there was no change. 
Should she give up? — ''No," she said, "I will 
pray for him as long as God gives me breath." 
That very day, the answer came. Her hus- 
band came home to dinner, but instead of eat- 
ing, he retired to his room. After she had 
waited a long time for him, she went to learn 
what detained him. There he was on his 



106 



Alone with God 



knees, pleading with God for mercy. He was 
thoroughly converted, and became a splendid 
Christian worker. This woman sought and 
found; asked and received; knocked, and it 
was opened unto her; for she knocked until 
the answer came. 

Let every young Christian be equally perse- 
vering in asking favors of God. It will be 
well to keep a written prayer list, and check 
off each item as God answers your request 
concerning it. Let us test our petitions by 
His word, subject them to His will, and then 
keep them spread before Him until the an- 
swer comes. And let us know for ourselves 
that "that is the sublimest moment in human 
life which holds on by faith to God's promises 
with a deathless grip." 

Sometimes God answers immediately. Dan- 
iel's prayer was answered at once. (Dan. 7: 
19, 23.) Sometimes the answer is delayed; 
and then we may be sure the delay is for our 
best good. The earnest, sincere prayer is 
never unheard, and never left unanswered; 
for "shall not God avenge His own elect, 
which cry day and night unto Him?" Luke 
18: 7, 8. Sometimes God's answer is different 
from what the petitioner expects. Three 
times, Paul prayed for deliverance from a 



S uccessful Prayer Life 107 



thorn in the flesh; but God said ''No," and 
Paul then gloried in that refusal. God gave 
him something better than he asked. Often 
God's answer is far beyond the expectation of 
His praying child. "Call unto Me," is God's 
message to you, "and I will answer thee, and 
show thee great and mighty things, which thou 
knowest not." Jer. 33:3. David says, "I 
waited patiently for the Lord; and He in- 
clined unto me, and heard my cry." Ps. 40: 1. 

And He will answer you, if you too wait 
patiently for Him in the spirit of persevering 
prayer. 

Pray without ceasing. Christ did. He lived 
in the atmosphere of prayer. Never give up. 
Christ wants to enter your heart, to repeat 
His victory in your life. His miracles in your 
work; but you must keep the connection un- 
broken. 

10. Submission 

Lastly, our prayers must always be made 
in the spirit of ''Thy will be done." Some- 
times we spread before God His promises, 
but cover up the conditions on which they are 
fulfilled. Isaiah tells us, ''The Lord's hand 
is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither 
His ear heavy, that it cannot hear." This is 



108 



Alo n e with God 



where we often stop, and say, ''God must ful- 
fill this promise/' But the prophet does not 
stop there. He adds this strong negative 
clause: ''But your iniquities have separated 
between you and your God; and your sins 
have hid His face from you, that He wdll not 
hear." David said, "If I regard iniquity in 
my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Where 
there is a lack of submission, prayers are very 
liable to be selfish. We ask for blessings not 
for His glory, not for the good of others, but 
for selfish gratification. Is there not a lesson 
for us in the experience of Job? We read 
that "the Lord turned the captivity of Job, 
when he praj^ed for his friends." 

But never should the Christian make the 
phrase, "Thy will be done," an excuse for 
failing to persevere in prayer, for failing to 
be victorious in daily life, for failing to have 
power for Christian service. Do not say, "I 
asked God to make this weak point in my 
character strong, but He has not, so I must 
say, 'Thy will be done;' " or, "I asked God to 
make me a soul winner, still I just cannot do 
personal work, so I must say, 'Thy will be 
done.' " Never cover your own failures with 
"Thy will be done." 



Successful Prayer Life 109 

Sometimes we do not realize that we do 
this; for we are living in an Athenian age, 
when many young Christians are spending 
their days telling and hearing news, and fail- 
ing to take time to become acquainted with 
their own hearts. We all need to pray, with 
David: ''Search me, O God, and know my 
heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and 
see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead 
me in the way everlasting." 

Have faith in God ; for He who reigns on high 

Hath borne thy grief, and hears the suppliant's sigh. 

Still to His arms, thine only refuge, fly. 

Have faith in God. 

Fear not to call on Him, O soul distressed! 
Thy sorrow's whisper woos thee to His breast. 
He who is oftenest there is oftenest blessed. 

Have faith in God. 

Lean not on Egypt's reeds ; slake not thy thirst 
At earthly cisterns. Seek the kingdom first. 
Though man and Satan fright thee with their worst, 

Have faith in God. 

Go, tell Him all. The sigh thy bosom heaves 

Is heard in heaven. Strength and peace He gives. 

Who gave Himself for thee. Our Jesus lives. 

Have faith in God. 
— Anna Ship ton. 




A Moment in the Morning 

A moment in the morning, ere the cares of day begin, 
Ere the heart's wide door is open for the world to enter in — 
Ah, then alone with Jesus, in the silence of the morn. 
In heavenly sweet communion, let your duty day be born. 
In the quietude that blesses with a prelude of repose. 
Let your soul be soothed and softened, as the dew revives 
the rose. 

A moment in the morning, take your Bible in your hand. 
And catch a glimpse of glory from the peaceful promised 
land. 

It will linger still before you when you see the busy mart. 
And like flowers of hope, will blossom into beauty in your 
heart. 

The precious words, like jewels, will glisten all the day, 
With a rare, effulgent glory that will brighten all the way. 

A moment in the morning — a moment, if no more — 
It is better than an hour when the trying day is o'er. 
'Tis the gentle dew from heaven, the manna for the day. 
If you fail to gather early, alas, it melts away. 
So, in the blush of morning, take the offered hand of love. 
And walk in heaven's pathway and the peacefulness thereof. 

— Arthur Lewis Tubbs, 



(110) 



The Morning Hour 

"In the morning, rising up 
a great while before day, 
He went out, and departed 
into a solitary place, and 
there prayed." Mark 1 : 35. 

''The morning watch is essential. You must not 
face the day until you have faced God, nor look into 
the face of others till you have looked into His. You 
cannot expect to be victorious, if the day begins only 
in your own strength.*' — R. F. Horton, in ''Victory 
in Christ.'* 



CHAPTER VIII 



HE Christian is like a diver. Every day, 
he plunges into conditions that tend 
to crush out his spiritual life. His safety 
depends upon his connection with heaven. 
Every day, before going forth, the Christian 
should test this connection, and make sure 
that he can safely drop into the day's work, 
with its problems and perplexities. 

T. L. Cuyler says: ''Every day should be 
commenced with God, and upon the knees. 
He begins the day unwisely who leaves his 
chamber without a secret conference with his 
heavenly Father. The true Christian goes to 
his closet for both his panoply and his 'rations' 
for the day's march and its inevitable con- 

(111) 




112 



Alo n e w i th God 



flicts. As the Oriental traveler sets out for 
the sultry journey by loading up his camel 
under the palm tree's shade, and by filling 
his flagons from the cool fountains that spar- 
kle at its roots, so doth God's wayfarer draw 
his fresh supply from the unexhausted spring. 
iSIorning is the golden time for devotion. The 
mercies of the night provoke to thankfulness. 
The buoyant heart that is in love with God, 
makes his earlier flights, like the lark, toward 
the gates of heaven. Gratitude, faith, de- 
pendent trust, all prompt to early interviews 
with Him w^ho, never slumbering Himself, 
waits on His throne, for our morning orisons. 
We all remember Bunyan's beautiful descrip- 
tion of his Pilgrim's lodging over night in 
the Chamber of Peace, which looked toward 
the sunrising, and at daybreak he awoke and | 
sang. If stony Egyptian's 'Memnon' made | 
music when the first rays kindled on his flintv 
brow, a devout heart should not be mute when 
God causes the outgoings of His mornings to j 
rejoice. No pressure of business nor house- | 
hold duties should crowd out morning prayer." 

Here is another call to observe the morn- 
ing watch: 'Tace the work of every day with 
the influence of a few thoughtful, quiet mo- 
ments with your own heart and God. Do not 



The Morning Hour 113 

meet other people, even those of your own 
home, until you have first met the great guest 
and honored companion of your life — Jesus 
Christ. Meet Him alone. Meet Him regu- 
larly. Meet Him with His open book of 
counsel before you; and face the regular and 
irregular duties of each day w^ith the influence 
of His personality definitely controlling your 
every act." 

The beautiful life of the late J. R. Miller 
emphasizes the importance of heeding the sug- 
gestion he gives in the following lines: "Seek 
the clasp of Christ's hand before every bit of 
work, every hard task, every battle, every 
good deed. Bend your head in the dewy 
freshness of every morning, ere you go forth 
to meet the day's duties and perils, and wait 
for the benediction of Christ, as He lays His 
hands upon you. They are hands of blessing. 
Their touch will inspire you for courage, and 
strength, and all beautiful and noble living." 

Bonar, from whose poetic pen have flowed 
many heaven-sent messages, testifies to the im- 
portance of morning prayer, in these words: 

"Begin the day with God. 

He is thy sun and day; 
He is the radiance of thy dawn. 

To Him address thy lay. 
Take thy first meal with God. " 
He is thy heavenly food. 



8 — Alone 



114 



Alone with God 



Feed with and on Him, He with thee 

Will feast in brotherhood. 
Thy first transaction be 

With God Himself above; 
So shall thy business prosper well, 

And all the day be love." 

A Christian who must have learned from 
experience the value of the morning watch 
once said: "If the quiet hour does not prelude 
the day of activity, we shall gi^ow fussy and 
fevered in our service to men. Our vitality 
will be exhausted, and some of our powers 
will be coarsened. We will lose our faith; 
and with our faith, we will lose our strength. 
'Extreme busyness,' says Robert Louis Ste- 
venson, 'whether at kirk or in the market, is a 
symptom of deficient vitality.' " 

The following editorial in Sunday School 
Times, on the morning watch, is well worth 
re-reading : 

''There is no other activity in life so im- 
portant as that of prayer. Every other 
activity depends upon prayer for its best 
efficiency. And not our activities only, but 
the very condition and attitude of our whole 
being, are determined by our prayer life. 
How important it is, then, that prayer should 
get our first attention and our best attention! 
The safest way to insure this would seem to 
be by keeping the 'morning watch'; giving 



The Morning Hour 115 

i^egular and ample time to prayer at the very 
beginning of the day, before breakfast and 
before taking up the day's duties. The prac- 
tice has been wonderfully blessed in many 
lives. It can revolutionize lives at the points 
of their greatest weakness — not the 'morn- 
ing watch/ but Christ through the 'morning 
watch.' To give from half an hour to an hour 
at the start of the day to a quiet time alone 
with God, feeding on His word under the 
guidance of the Holy Spirit, and talking 
freely with Him about His work and the 
needs of the day — our needs and others' 
needs — sends one forth into the day from the 
very courts of heaven. All day long, we may, 
in Christ's strength, live in the blessing that 
was thus won at the start. And we shall pray 
the more through the day, and at nighttime, 
because of the morning time alone with God. 
The pressure of other duties only increases 
the need of prayer at the start. In the midst 
of one of His most crowded seasons of ac- 
tivity, Jesus, 'in the morning, rising up a 
great while before day, . . . prayed.' If life 
has been barren or defeated, let us give this 
remedy a fair trial." 

The experience of Christians in all ages em- 
phasizes the importance of keeping the morn- 



116 



Alone with God 



ing watch faithfully. God said to Moses: 
''And be ready in the morning, and come up 
in the morning unto Mount Sinai, and present 
thyself there to Me in the top of the mount. 
And no man shall come up with thee." Ex. 
34: 2, 3. He was to meet God alone in the 
mount. He did; and when he returned, his 
face shone. David says, "In the morning 
will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will 
look up;" and again: ''Cause me to hear Thy 
loving-kindness in the morning; for in Thee 
do I trust : cause me to know the way wherein 
I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto 
Thee." Ps. 5: 3; 143: 8. Isaiah had his morn- 
ing appointments with God, for he tells us, 
"He wakeneth morning by morning, He 
Vvakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned." 
Isa. 50 : 4. To Daniel, the morning prayer 
was so important that he would rather be cast 
into the lions' den than fail to observe it. Of 
our Saviour, the maker of heaven and earth, 
it is recorded that "in the morning, rising up 
a great while before day. He went out, and 
departed into a solitary place, and there 
prayed." Mark 1: 35. 

It is said that Wesley, during the last forty 
years of his life, rose at four o'clock, and spent 
from one to two hours in devotional Bible 



The Morning Hour 117 

study and prayer. John Quincy Adams 
studied his Bible in the morning, and said of 
this custom, "It seems to me the most suitable 
manner of beginning the day." Lord Cairns, 
an exceedingly busy man, devoted an hour 
and a half every morning to Bible study and 
secret prayer. Some one has said that for 
sixty years, Mr. Gladstone went every morn- 
ing into the nearest chapel or church for his 
morning prayer. J. Hudson Taylor would 
not let the duties that well-nigh crushed him, 
crowd out his morning watch. To him, it was 
an absolute necessity. During most busy sea- 
sons, he was known to rise about three o'clock 
for an hour of Bible study and prayer. D. L. 
Moody, in speaking of the importance of 
prayer, says, ''General Havelock rose at four 
o'clock, if the hour for marching was six, 
rather than miss the precious privilege of 
communion with God before starting out." 
Sir Matthew Hale said, ''If I omit praying 
and reading God's word in the morning, noth- 
ing goes right through the day." 

There are many reasons why you should 
never omit your secret devotions in the morn- 
ing. "In the morning watch appointment, 
faithfully kept," as Gordon says in "Keeping 
Tryst," "lies the great secret of riding master- 



118 



Alone with God 



fully upon the tide that surges around so 
fiercely, instead of being sucked under by it. 
And between these two tide alternatives, 
every one must choose." 

It is too late for the soldier to buckle on 
his armor and hunt up his equipments when 
the enemy is upon him. He must be pre- 
pared. So must you; and prayer is the best 
preparation you can make for meeting the 
events of the day. Prayer will help you do 
yoiu* work, bear your burdens, solve your 
problems, and sweeten your pleasures. Then, 
too, the morning hour is especially fitted for 
prayer. It is the quiet time of the day. The 
toil and disappointments of yesterday lie hid- 
den behind the curtains of night, and the cares 
of to-day have not yet overtaken us. Some- 
how, all about us seems to say, "Be still, and 
know that I am God." Gordon gives five 
advantages of the morning prayer. They are : 

1. Sure of the time. 

2. Economical — other hours are crowded. 

3. The quiet hour of the day. 

4. Leaves its impress on the entii-e day. 

5. Seems to be our Master's preference. 
But the plan to observe the morning watch 

cannot be carried out without definite and de- 
termined effort. You must plan very defi- 



The Morning Hour 119 

nitely for this appointment. Satan will try, 
in every way possible, to crowd it out. He 
will try to make you feel too busy, try to fill 
your mind with selfish plans, and make you 
forget the morning appointment. He knows 
that if prayer is neglected, you will slip down, 
down where he can get a strong grip on you. 
But God will help you to remember your ap- 
pointments, if you ask Him to do so. George 
Mliller was determined to have his morning 
appointment with God, and "he plunged his 
head into a bucket of cold water, morning 
after morning, until the habit of waking clear 
and bright was definitely fixed." 

Every young Christian should remember 
that it often requires a great deal of self- 
control to direct the waking thoughts to lofty 
themes. The mind is apt to fly away to the 
accomplishment of a hundred plans. Re- 
minders of a score of duties try to crowd out 
the morning appointment with the Master. 
Life is so full, the inevitable cares so often 
choke the best intentions, that ''one must needs 
watch and pray to acquire this habit of early 
commitment of the day to God. But once 
gained, what sweeter, more satisfying habit 
could be desired? Peace and strength for du- 
ties come from the full and hearty making 



120 



A I o n e w i tk God 



over to our heavenly Father, of all the per- 
plexities that seem close at hand, all the plans 
as to whose success we are in doubt, all the 
words and actions which we hope to make 
blessed and useful because inspired hy His 
Spirit." 

Happy indeed is the young Christian w^ho 
meets his morning appointments with God 
faithfully. He has learned how to start the 
day right, how to start his work right. He 
has learned to ask God for help before begin- 
ning rather than after he has tried everything 
else and failed; to use prayer as a first re- 
source rather than a last. He is laying the 
foundation for a genuinely successful life. 
Every young Christian who knows the joys, 
comfort, and help of beginning the day with 
God, will pray more through the day, and will 
have an evening appointment with the same 
unchanging Friend, that the hand that un- 
locks the door in the morning may bolt it 
again at night. 

"Alone with God in the evening, 

When are past the cares of the day, 
And the hot, flushed clouds of sunset 

Have faded to sober gray ! 
The troubles that weighed my spirit, 

In the hush of the darkness cease. 
Tm alone with God in the evening, 

And my soul is filled with peace. 



The Morning Hour 121 

"Alone with God in the evening, 

But memory's thoughts will stray 
Perchance to the duty I did not do, 

Or the word I did not say; 
And I think of the vanished chances, 

With a tender and sad regret. 
Alas for the good I might have done 

Ere the sun of the day was set! 

"Alone with God in the evening! 
Is the record dark or fair 
That has gone all day to the gates of 
heaven, 
To be recorded there? 
I think of each sinful action. 

With throbbing heart and brain; 
For the day that has gone to eternity, 
I never can live again. 

"Alone with God in the evening! 

I fall on my knees, to pray 
That He, in His tender, pitying love, 

Will forgive the sins of the day; 
And a peace settles down on my spirit, 

And I rest like a weary child. 
I'm alone with God in the evening, 

And to Him I am reconciled." 




If, when I kneel to pray, 

With eager lips I say, 
"Lord, give me all the things that I desire — 
Health, wealth, fame, friends, brave heart, re- 
ligious fire. 
The power to sway my fellow men at will. 
And strength for mighty works to banish ill" — 

In such a prayer as this. 

The blessing I must miss. 

Or if I only dare 

To raise this fainting prayer : 
"Thou seest. Lord, that I am poor and weak. 
And cannot tell what things I ought to seek ; 
I therefore do not ask at all, but still 
I trust Thy bounty all my wants to fill" — 

My lips shall thus grow dumb; 

Thy blessings shall not come. 

But if I lowly fall. 
And thus in faith I call: 
"Through Christ, 0 Lord, I pray Thee give to 
me 

Not what I would, but what seems best to Thee, 
Of life, of health, of service, and of strength. 
Until to Thy full joy I come at length"— 

My prayer shall then avail; 

The blessing shall not fail. 

— Charles Francis Richardson, 

liiiiiiiiiiiiiH 

(122) 



When Prayer Fails 



"If I regard iniquity in 
my heart, the Lord will 
not hear me." Ps. 66: 18. 

'7/ with humble heart you seek divine guidance in 
every trouble and perplexity , His word is pledged that 
a gracious answer will be given you. And His word 
can never fail/' — Mrs. E, G. White. 



CHAPTER IX 



/^NE of the world's renowned scientists 
has recently declared that prayer is the 
mightiest force in the universe, and that the 
Christian world is blind to the fact." Let us 
put beside this the challenge to prayer found 
in the Missionary Review of the World for 
January, 1910: "We risk successful challenge, 
from any quarter, of the statement now de- 
liberately made after a half century of the 
study of modern missions: From the day of 
Pentecost, there has not been one spiritual 
awakening, in any land, which has not begun 
in a union of prayer, though only among two 
or three; no such outward, upward movement 
has continued after such prayer meetings have 
declined; and it is in exact proportion to the 
maintenance of such joint and believing sup- 

(123) 



124 



Alone with God 



plication and intercession that the word of the 
Lord in any land or localitj^ has had free 
course and been glorified.'' 

Truly, ''more things are wrought by prayer 
than this world dreams of." At a gathering 
of artists, the question was asked, "How may 
one most quickly recover inner strength after 
a period of great exertion?" Different meth- 
ods were suggested; but when Haydn, the 
great musical composer, was asked about his 
method, he said: "In my home, I have a small 
chapel. When I feel wearied because of my 
work, I go there and pray. This remedy has 
never failed me." 

Of a railroad engineer in Idaho, it was said 
that no life was ever lost on the train he was 
pulling. After one narrow escape, passengers 
rushed to him, and thanked him for saving 
their lives; but he told them to thank God, 
for He it was who had protected them. 
"Whenever I climb into the cab," he con- 
tinued, "I invariably say: 'Lord, this is Your 
train, Your business, and I am Your laddie, 
working for You. These are Your people. 
Help me to take care of them.' " 

The sultan of Turkey, in 1839, decreed that 
not a representative of the Christian religion 
should remain in the empire. Dr. Godell 



The Morning Hour 125 

came home to Dr. Hamlin, his fellow mission- 
ary, with the sad news: ''It is all over with us. 
We have to leave. The American consul and 
the British ambassador say it is no use to meet 
with the antagonism of this violent and vin- 
dictive monarch." Dr. Hamlin replied, "The 
Sultan of the universe can, in answer to 
prayer, change the decree of the sultan of 
Turkey." They gave themselves to prayer. 
The next day, the sultan died, and the decree 
was never executed. 

All things are possible through prayer. 
"When every drop of blood that courses 
through the veins is touched by the Holy 
Spirit, the man on his knees has a leverage 
underneath the mountain which can cast it 
into the sea, if necessary, and can force all 
earth and heaven to recognize the power there 
is in 'His name.' " 

Yet prayer — so-called prayer — sometimes 
fails. One day, a little girl was left alone 
with the cook and the nurse. She wandered 
into the kitchen ; and somehow, the cook stum- 
bled over the little intruder. At once, the 
crying child rushed to her mother's room ; and 
when the nurse found her, she was hugging 
her mother's old red wrapper. "What are 
you doing here?" asked the nurse. "Oh, I 



126 



Alone with God 



want my mamma," sobbed the child; but 
clinging to the red wrapper did not suffice to 
comfort the hurt child. Just so, merely cling- 
ing to the form of prayer cannot comfort the 
human heart, nor bring power into the life, 
nor accomplish things in the world. 

If the Christian does not allow prayer to 
drive sin out of his life, sin will drive prayer 
out of his life. Like light and darkness, the 
tw^o cannot dwell together. To harbor known 
sin is like cutting the telegraph wire. The 
machine may click, but no message reaches 
the other end. Sin breaks the connection with 
heaven. When prayer fails, there is need to 
repair the machinery at our end of the line ; 
and the quickest way to do it is to make 
things right with God, to pray earnestly, 
''Create in me a clean heart, O God; and re- 
new a right spirit within me." 

One of the saddest facts in the world is that 
God can answer so little prayer for us. Yet 
prayer need never fail; and prayer never does 
fail if the proper place in life is given to it. 
''Prayer at its best can never take a secondary 
place in life. When prayer has become sec- 
ondary, or incidental, it has lost its power. 
Those who are conspicuously men of prayer 
are those who use prayer as they use food, or 



When Prayer Fails 127 

air, or light, or money. They never attempt 
to get along without it. It is a part of the 
provision and the currency of their life. They 
would count themselves starved or bankrupt 
if they should attempt to live a prayerless 
twenty-four hours. Many of us believe in 
prayer, and avail ourselves of it, as a sort of 
'top dressing' to our lives, a desirable and 
helpful accompaniment of our own efforts, 
and nothing more. The result is that it 
never becomes anything more, and we live in 
poverty." 

But remember, prayer never need fail; and 
forget not the possibilities of prayer. It has 
divided seas, caused water to gush out of 
flinty rocks, rolled up rivers, muzzled the 
mouths of lions, fed multitudes, healed the 
sick, and raised the dead. It has bridled hu- 
man passions, converted men and women, 
comforted breaking hearts, and inspired faint- 
ing, despairing disciples with new hope. 
Prayer has done all this, and much more. 
What prayer has done, prayer still may do. 
It is the same yesterday, to-day, and until 
probation closes. It is the secret of power; 
and the law of the Christian life is, '*No 
prayer, no power; little prayer, little power; 
much prayer, much power." 



128 



Alone with God 



Nothing else will give us such clear vision 
of ourselves or of Christ, as will secret prayer ; 
and more than that, the chamber of secret 
prayer is the station where we connect with 
the great dynamo of heaven, and receive 
power to live the life that counts, — the life of 
victory over sin, the life of faithful and suc- 
cessful soul winning. From every viewpoint, 
being alone with God in prayer is the Chris- 
tian's supreme privilege and his greatest need ; 
for ''the only thing that will enable Chris- 
tians to conquer the world for Christ is 
PRAYER." 

"Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer! 
Thy wings shall my petition bear 
To Him whose truth and faithfulness 
Engage the waiting soul to bless. 
And since He bids me seek His face, 
Believe His word, and trust His grace, 
I'll cast on Him my every care. 
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer." 

"If ye know these things, happy are 
ye if ye do them." John 13: 17. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: August 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 T tiomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township PA 16066 
(724) 779-2111 



